McCain brushes off Newt Gingrich's criticism of Republican presidential field

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan:

John McCain on Tuesday brushed aside derogatory comments made by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who called the Republican presidential field a "pathetic" bunch of "pygmies."

"I see the former member of the House of Representatives as a person
who has many, many comments to make and he's made many, many comments critical
of me in the past,"

McCain told reporters Tuesday after attending a fundraiser in Grand Rapids.

"We had a fundamental disagreement about the role of money in
politics."

Speaking at a Monday breakfast sponsored by The American Spectator, a conservative magazine, Gingrich labeled the nine-man Republican presidential field as a "pathetic" bunch of "pygmies," the San Francisco Examiner reported.

"If Mr. Gingrich decides he wants to get into the presidential campaign
for the nomination of our party, then I would take some of his comments more
seriously,"

McCain said.