Newt Gingrich calls Sotomayor a 'racist'

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has a new word for President Obama's Supreme Court pick: "racist."

Gingrich said Wednesday that Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a "racist" because of comments she made years ago about the perspective she brings to the bench as a Hispanic woman.

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life," Sotomayor said at the University of California, Berkeley's annual Judge Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Lecture.

Gingrich objected to that remark on Wednesday. "Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a Latina woman.' Wouldn't they have to withdraw? New racism is no better than old racism," Gingrich wrote on his blog.

"A white man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw," he added. By making that remark, Gingrich attempted to equate Sotomayor's statement about the importance of diversity with an avowed white racist asserting cultural superiority. 

Gingrich has twisted Sotomayor's words out of context, liberal groups shot back. "She was specifically discussing the importance of judicial diversity in determining race and sex discrimination cases," responded Media Matters for America, a media watchdog group.

The group noted that former Bush Justice Department lawyer John Yoo has similarly stressed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas "is a black man with a much greater range of personal experience than most of the upper-class liberals who take potshots at him" and argued that Thomas's work on the court has been influenced by his understanding of the less fortunate acquired through personal experience.

But that hasn't stopped the right-wing critics from attacking Sotomayor for her comment. Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has also called Sotomayor a "racist."