Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday that Hillary Clinton has not held a news conference in 272 days "because she can't lie to the entire corps of reporters simultaneously and survive it."
"She can't tell the truth and survive it," Gingrich, the former Georgia representative who supports Republican Donald Trump, told Eric Bolling on Fox News. "This is why her campaign I think is terminal."
The Democratic nominee has come under heavy fire for not meeting with reporters since last December. While she has not explained why she had not met with the press, Clinton has argued that she has done many media interviews since her campaign began in April 2015.
Brian Fallon, the campaign's chief spokesman, said Friday that Clinton would meet with journalists if she won in November.
"Hillary Clinton will hold press conferences," Fallon told "Powerhouse Politics" podcast on ABC News. "But the frequency of them is something that would just play out as time went on."
Gingrich charged that Clinton's absence from press sessions pointed to her overall credibility.
"This is the most dishonest, corrupt candidate ever to run for president of the United States," he told Bolling. "Every time we learn more about it it's more sickening."
He was referring to the FBI's release of heavily redacted documents from their July interview with Clinton at her home in Washington as part of their investigation of her private email use.
Among other things, the documents showed that Clinton "did not pay attention" to the various levels of classified material on her server during her four years as secretary of state.
"Over the next month or so, you're going to learn even more about it," Gingrich said of the email investigation.