O'Malley mocks Gingrich on $2.50 gas: He also promised moon colonies

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley on Sunday suggested that Newt Gingrich's recent promises about lowering the price of gas in America were absurd.

Gingrich vowed to get gas prices down to $2.50 per gallon if elected president by increasing domestic energy production. But economists noted that the U.S. would have to remove itself from the global oil trade to set its own prices.

When asked about the plan on CBS News' "Face the Nation," O'Malley said Gingrich also "has a plan to create moon colonies and lunar outposts within two years."

He said Republican presidential candidates were trying to convince voters that the economy was getting worse, "when in fact it is getting better."

"So now that it is getting better, they want to switch it," O'Malley explained. "They want to say, 'Oh, look at gas prices, the president is responsible for that.' We are part of a global economy, and the fact of the matter is, domestic oil production has been increasing every year under President Obama."

He added that the Republican candidates' focus on social issues was "good for the president," but "bad for the country."

"For the election I suppose it's best for the president if they take their hard-right turn, sort of war on unions, war on women, and all these cultural issues," O'Malley said.

Watch video, courtesy of CBS News, below: