2012 Presidential Republican Candidate: Newt Gingrich Attacks CNN’s John King Over Open Marriage Question.. Newt Gingrich mauls CNN’s John King for asking about ‘open marriage‘ Thursday’s Republican debate in Charleston, South Carolina started off with a bang when CNN moderator John King asked Newt Gingrich if he wanted to respond to allegations made by his second wife that he asked for an open marriage. “No,” Gingrich retorted to audience applause. “But I will.” “The destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that,” Gingrich said. You can watch video of his complete answer above. The morning of the debate, ABC released pieces of the Nightline interview with Marianne Gingrich where she spoke about her marriage to the former speaker of the house, “[Gingrich] was asking to have an open marriage, and I refused.”. 2012 Presidential Republican Candidate – Gingrich Republican News CNN: campaign commercials and 2012 GOP presidential election campaign commercials, showcasing 2012 Republican Presidential hopefuls, political election press, GOP events, fundraising, along with election of 2012 predictions.