Gingrich Pulls Back Presidential Announcement

This probably isn’t the way former House Speaker Newt Gingrich would like to begin his presumed campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. After a day in which his advisers focused on telling news organizations that he would announce a presidential exploration committee Thursday, Gingrich’s political organization issued a statement late Tuesday night saying that he won’t do so, Politico reports.

The statement released by Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler came more than eight hours after the first reports of a Thursday announcement. The statement read: "he [Gingrich] will NOT announce the formation of an exploratory committee" while in Georgia on Thursday.

The aide said "much speculation in the press" necessitated the "clarification." The change of message wasn’t explained.