Gingrich: 'Baloney' that Obama's Quran burning apology saved lives

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Sunday blasted President Barack Obama for apologizing after U.S. troops allegedly burned Muslim holy books in Afghanistan.

The president told ABC News last week that the apology was necessary to "save lives" because protests over the Quran burnings have caused multiple deaths, including at least five U.S. soldiers.

"If the commander-in-chief apologizes in a setting like that where -- remember, the Quarans we're describing were defaced by Islamic radical prisoners, they were defaced by them," Gingrich insisted to CNN's Candy Crowley. "When the president of the United States says, 'I apologize,' he is basically taking on blame."

"Lots of people apologize for accidental things," Crowley pointed out. "You bump into someone, you say I'm sorry. It's not unheard of."

"I don't believe the president saved lives by what he did," Gingrich asserted. "I believe the president set a terrible precedent of a commander-in-chief not standing up for American troops. I think he should have called [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai and said -- you know, it was Karzai's soldier who killed those first two Americans. Have we heard any apology from the Afghan president, for his soldier killing young Americans? No."

"Obama went around the world apologizing. This excuse of his is baloney. He has apologized so many times or in so many countries, it is frankly embarrassing to have a president who thinks that apologizing for the United States is good policy."

Last week, the former House Speaker implied that the president favored Muslims over Christians.

"You’ll notice the President Obama is very quick to apologize for Islam while he attacks the Catholic church," he said at a campaign rally in Macon, Georgia on Thursday, referring to the Obama administration's requirement that all health insurance companies cover contraception for women.

“This is the most anti-religious administration in American history. And you have my commitment that on the very first day, I will issue an executive order that turns over every single anti-religious act of Barack Obama.”

Watch this video from CNN's State of the Union, broadcast March. 4, 2012.

(H/T: Politico)