Gingrich: Obama lying about events in Libya, killing of diplomat

KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- Newt Gingrich accused the White House of lying about the events that led to the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya during the recent attack on a diplomatic mission in that country.

“This administration has lied to the American people for over a week,” said Gingrich, a former GOP presidential candidate, during a campaign stop Monday in Missouri for U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin.

“They have refused to tell the truth about Benghazi,” Gingrich said about the Libyan city where the ambassador and three other Americans were killed in the deadly attack.

Initial reports indicated that protesters were outraged over an American-made film’s depiction of the prophet Muhammad, sparking a wave of violence against U.S. diplomatic missions across the Muslim world in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. More recently, however, there have been reports that the attack in Libya may have been planned.

PHOTOS: U.S. ambassador killed in Libya

Republicans have criticized Obama’s interview on “60 Minutes” as he supported the emerging democracies in those parts of the world, and suggested that there would be “bumps in the road” from last year’s “Arab Spring” that toppled regimes across the region.

“The killing of the U.S. ambassador and three [other] Americans is not a bump in the road, Mr. President,” Gingrich said. “Nothing in Benghazi [was] related to some stupid movie.”

Gingrich was stumping -- and fundraising -- for Akin, the Republican whose candidacy has hit trouble ever since he said pregnancy rarely results from “legitimate rape.”

Akin has since apologized and said he “misspoke,” but his campaign has struggled to recover as national donors withdrew funds.

Tuesday is the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the ballot in Missouri, but Akin has vowed to press on.

PHOTOS: Obama on the campaign trail

Follow Politics Now on Twitter and Facebook

[email protected]

twitter.com/@lisaMascaroinDC