Newt Gingrich says millennials are dividing America by texting too much

SAN FRANCISCO - Newt Gingrich knows who's to blame for America's divisions: text-loving millennials.

The younger generation's preference to send text messages rather than talk on the phone is an indication of the group's inability to talk to people who are different from them, Gingrich said Tuesday during an appearance here at OpenWorld, Oracle's annual user conference.

"You have to wonder at what point have you grown a generation that cannot interact with anyone else," he said.

Gingrich's comments came during a sit-down conversation with former Senator Barbara Boxer before an audience of corporate executives that was moderated by Oracle's co-CEO Mark Hurd.

The former Speaker of the House and former Republican representative from Georgia started targeting millennials after Boxer, a Democrat, said President Donald Trump rhetoric was dividing the country. Boxer described reading through Trump's inaugural address and discovering what she referred to as "the politics of them." Trump's address included many references to "you" and "them," juxtaposing politics under President Obama with how things would play out in the Trump administration.

But Gingrich, 74, was having none of it. America's divisions come from the political Left, he said. Text-loving millennials are to blame. But so too are Hillary Clinton and Madonna, he said, noting Clinton's use of the word "deplorables" to describe a subset of Trump voters and Madonna's statement that she'd a thought "a lot about blowing up the White House" after Trump's election.

Hurd kept his comments to a minimum, but did chime in as the former politicians discussed congressional approval ratings.

"These guys poll worse than CEOs," Hurd said.