MASON CITY, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that a luxury cruise he took through the Greek Isles earlier this year that prompted top aides to flee his campaign was designed to show he’s “a different kind of candidate.”
Gingrich said the trip, which came just days after he formally announced in May he would seek the presidency, had always been planned to give him time to think.
“I think you need to pace yourself. You need to get a sense of distance,” he told reporters after a campaign event in Mason City.
And Gingrich said being in Greece during that country’s financial crisis was helpful. “It gave me a much deeper perspective of how hard this is going to be,” he said of the economic struggles ahead in the U.S.
Denver Post wire services
