From Huffington Post: MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich vigorously defended his controversial comments about food stamps and African-Americans Sunday, saying he was “irritated” by the reaction and believed people should have welcomed his remarks.

At a recent town hall event, Gingrich said that if invited, he would love to speak at the annual NAACP convention “about why the African-American community should demand pay checks and not be satisfied with food stamps.”

He has also frequently called President Obama a “food stamp president.”

At an event that his campaign billed as a “Hispanic Town Hall Meeting,” held at the Don Quijote Mexican restaurant here, Gingrich was pressed on the topic by Yvan Lamothe, an African-American New Hampshire resident.

“My point is, about a week ago — some time ago — you mentioned that black people should be able to earn a paycheck, not be on welfare, implying that black people in general are on welfare,” said Lamothe. “And I really took exception to that because it demeans my accomplishments, my hard work, because I have worked all my life. I have never been on welfare. You know about history. You know that back in the 1930s, Hitler started talking in Germany about a Jewish problem. My question to you is, do you think that blacks represent an American problem, and if you don’t think that, will you stop using blacks in general as a stepping stone or a punching bag?”

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