Former Houser Speaker Newt Gingrich on Monday night again erroneously described credit unions as government-sponsored enterprises.
During a Republican presidential debate in Tampa, while seeking to defend his consulting work for mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, Gingrich lumped credit unions and other cooperatives with government-sponsored enterprises, such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
"Government-sponsored enterprises include, for example, telephone cooperatives, rural electric cooperatives, federal credit unions. There are many different kinds of government-sponsored enterprises, and many of them have done very good things," he said during the debate, which was broadcast on NBC.
Gingrich made a similar comment during a December debate in Sioux City, Iowa.
Throughout the campaign, Gingrich’s rivals have criticized the fact that he has received $1.6 million for lobbying work for Freddie Mac.
He says he never lobbied for the mortgage buyer but his opponents have tried to persuade voters that there are few differences between lobbying and advising others on lobbying strategy .
