DES MOINES, Iowa — Newt Gingrich choked up and wiped tears Friday while recalling his late mother’s struggle with depression and mental illness.
Speaking at an event with mothers in Des Moines, Iowa, the former House speaker said his focus on brain-science issues stems directly from “dealing with the real problems of real people in my family.”
“And so it’s not a theory. It’s, in fact, my mother,” he said as he wiped tears.
Kit Gingrich died in 2003 at age 77. Gingrich said she spent her final years in a long-term care facility suffering from depression and bipolar disease and gradually acquired physical ailments.
The moment was reminiscent of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s teary-eyed response to a question just before the 2008 Democratic primary in New Hampshire. That rare, emotional response by the former first lady was credited with humanizing her in the eyes of voters. She went on to pull off a win in the state.
