John Lithgow offers dramatic reading of Gingrich spokesman’s statement on ‘The Colbert Report’

Under fire from Republicans for his comments on Medicare, Newt Gingrich has been blaming the media for what has no doubt been one of the worst weeks of his political career. Amid other press-baiting claims, the former House speaker has insisted that his campaign is too important for the press to even comprehend.

But even that comment pales in comparison to an email Gingrich's spokesman Rick Tyler sent to The Huffington Post's Michael Calderone about the campaign's bad week. Tyler's statement may very well go down in history as the most dramatic campaign statement ever issued.

"The literati sent out their minions to do their bidding," Tyler wrote. "Washington cannot tolerate threats from outsiders who might disrupt their comfortable world."

Apart from the the invocation of a sinister and all-powerful "literati" that opening complaint was fairly standard press-secretary griping. But Tyler was just getting warmed up.

"The firefight started when the cowardly sensed weakness," he declared. "They fired timidly at first, then the sheep not wanting to be dropped from the establishment's cocktail party invite list unloaded their entire clip, firing without taking aim their distortions and falsehoods."

"Now they are left exposed by their bylines and handles. But surely they had killed him off. This is the way it always worked," Tyler wrote. "A lesser person could not have survived the first few minutes of the onslaught. But out of the billowing smoke and dust of tweets and trivia emerged Gingrich, once again ready to lead those who won't be intimated by the political elite and are ready to take on the challenges America faces."

It was a statement that had all the makings of good Tim Pawlenty action film trailer. But for now, we'll have to settle for a stage rendition: Last night, Stephen Colbert invited actor John Lithgow to do a dramatic reading of Tyler's statement on "The Colbert Report," and the result is something that even Gingrich would probably find amusing.

You can watch the video here:

Of course, that wasn't the only response to Tyler's remarks. The statement has also been animated.

(Screenshot of Lithgow via Comedy Central)

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