Giuliani defends Gingrich ‘mistake’

Newt Gingrich’s admission of having an extramarital affair as he pursued President Clinton’s impeachment in the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal has been defended by Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Giuliani, during a campaign stop in Reno, told reporters that the episode shows no one is perfect, and that the former House speaker can learn from it.

“I think the American people realize, and I’m speaking for myself now, we’ve made a lot of mistakes, and hopefully we’ve done some good things in our lives, and it’s probably always been that way,” he said.

While he called Gingrich “one of the smartest people in American politics,” the former New York City mayor said it was premature to say whether he would consider him as a running mate.