Gingrich Compares Standoff with Egypt over Workers to Iran Hostage Crisis

(Fox News) - GOLDEN, Colo. -- Newt Gingrich slammed the White House Monday, comparing the escalating diplomatic tensions between the US and Egypt to the Iran hostage crisis of 1979.

Over the weekend Egypt announced its intentions to send nineteen American non-profit workers to trial for charges they used foreign funds to promote unrest, ignoring threats from US officials that $1.3 billion in aid may be withheld.

"We now have the Obama hostage crisis to resemble the Carter hostage crisis," Gingrich said at a rally held just outside Denver. "And you talk about taking back the 1.3 billion -- I'd do a lot more than that!"

Comparing President Ronald Reagan's strategy for the Cold War -- "We win, they lose" -- to President Barack Obama's support of the Arab Spring, Gingrich characterized the White House's approach to the Middle East as a "mindless capitulation to forces that are contrary to our entire civilization."

President Jimmy Carter's handling of the Iran hostage crisis has been widely cited by political analysts as a key reason why he lost his re-election bid to Reagan in 1980.

Gingrich made just two stops in Colorado Monday, which was his only day of campaigning in the state before its non-binding caucuses on Tuesday. Saving up his resources to execute a Super Tuesday strategy, Gingrich raised a little over a million dollars in Las Vegas last week, with an additional $800,000 in commitments.