Newt Gingrich pushes back on Nelson Mandela criticism

[calimary]

37. He's a scorpion. And he'll always be a scorpion.

It's like that fable about the fox and the scorpion, in which the scorpion needs to get across the river but can't swim. So the scorpion sweet-talks the fox into giving him a ride, even while the fox worried that - "you're a scorpion. You'll sting me and I'll die." "No I won't! Promise! What good would that do? I'd drown too!" So the fox gives in and then, they get halfway across the river and guess what the scorpion does! And while they're both going down for the last time, the fox says "why'd you do that?" And the scorpion says "'cause I'm a scorpion. That's what I do."

This is just newt trying to reassure people that he's not gonna sting 'em and please can they help him get across the river on their backs? "Don't think of me as what I am even though I am a scorpion. Just give me a ride. I won't sting you. I'll be good! It'll be okay! Promise!"