A CNN news alert sent Thursday stated that Newt Gingrich tried to pressure his wife into having an abortion, adding another potential scandal to the former Speaker's long list.
However, it turns out the report was fake and CNN has since denied sending the message.
"A source close to Marianne Gingrich tells CNN that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich forced her to abort a pregnancy conceived during the affair that preceded her marriage to Gingrich,” the email read.
In CNN’s own reporting of the story, it says that the number of people who were sent the email is unclear, but that two members of the South Carolina GOP Executive Committee were among the recipients.
Also read: Newt Gingrich Calls Ex-Wife's Claims 'Trash,' Rips CNN
CNN also described it as “a last ditch attempt to halt Newt Gingrich’s late momentum in South Carolina.” Was that from a Gingrich spokesperson?
The night that email went out, the former Speaker of the House went on a tirade about the vicious press during CNN’s GOP candidates debate. No wonder!
Gingrich has made a habit of lampooning the mainstream media, and this was just one of the events this week that gave him more ammunition.
Marianne Gingrich has been in the news much of the week because of an interview she gave to ABC's "Nightline," in which she said her ex-husband asked her to have an "open marriage."