Gingrich in denial that Reagan, too, used "very dangerous" description of himself as a "citizen ... of the world"

Summary: On The Sean Hannity Show, Newt Gingrich said of Sen. Barack Obama's speech in Berlin: "I think saying that you are the -- a citizen of the world, talking to 200,000 Germans is very dangerous because the average American does not want to elect a president of the world." In fact, Obama referred to himself in the Berlin speech as "a citizen -- a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world." Further, he is not the first U.S. public official to refer to himself as a "citizen of the world"; President Reagan did so in a June 1982 speech to the United Nations.

On the August 6 broadcast of the nationally syndicated Sean Hannity Show, Fox News contributor and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) said of Sen. Barack Obama's July 24 speech in Berlin: "I think saying that you are the -- a citizen of the world, talking to 200,000 Germans is very dangerous because the average American does not want to elect a president of the world to use up America in order to make the rest of the world feel good." In fact, Obama referred to himself in the Berlin speech as "a citizen -- a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world," as Media Matters for America has noted. Moreover, Obama is not the first U.S. public official to refer to himself as a "citizen of the world" in front of an international audience. President Reagan did so in a June 17, 1982, speech to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he said, "I speak today as both a citizen of the United States and of the world."

From the August 6 broadcast of ABC Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show:

HANNITY: What do you think of the campaign at this particular point? Barack Obama's lost 10 points in a week. The momentum clearly has shifted to Senator McCain. His more recent comments -- "Well, I don't look the same as those other presidents on a dollar bill" -- seem to have been met with a negative reaction of the American people. What do you think?

GINGRICH: I think three things are going on: First of all, I think saying that you are the -- a citizen of the world, talking to 200,000 Germans is very dangerous because the average American does not want to elect a president of the world to use up America in order to make the rest of the world feel good. The United States wants to elect a president of the United States who will represent American interests in the world, and I think that he's right at the edge of a very dangerous situation.

—Z.A.

Zachary Aronow is an intern at Media Matters for America.