When Sarah Palin said U.S. soldiers were on a ‘task from God,' former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a historian, knew exactly what she was saying. She was quoting President Abraham Lincoln.

The day after a September 11 interview with Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, aired on ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson," Gingrich blasted the media for its historical ignorance at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. He then pointed out Gibson's interview as a specific example.

"I want to take my limited time today and focus in on - I couldn't imagine a better moment for you to be here than after last night's stunningly distorted interview with Gov. Palin on ABC," Gingrich said. "Stunningly distorted because of one particular set of question, which I want to spend my time explaining and putting in context. I don't know how many of you have seen the original interview or excerpts, but there's a point where Charlie Gibson asks Gov. Palin about whether or not she believed that our soldiers were on a task from God and he quoted one-fourth of something she had said in her church."

Gingrich explained the portion of a quote Gibson used in his questioning of Palin had a broader meaning when the entire quote was included, as my NewsBusters colleague John Stephenson pointed out on September 11.

"He quoted - quote, ‘Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.' Now the rest of the quote - this is the full quote from the June 8, 2008 Assembly of God at the Pentecostal Church - quote, ‘Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right - also for this country - that our leaders, our national leaders are sending U.S. troops, U.S. soldiers out on a task that is from God," Gingrich said. "That's what we have to make sure we're praying for - that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan.'"

But it's just a symptom of a larger problem and Gibson's interview was just one example, the former University of West Georgia professor said.

"Gov. Palin tried to explain to Mr. Gibson last night she was paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln," Gingrich said. "But you could tell on the look from Gibson's face that the idea was just beyond him.

The broader problem, according to Gingrich is the religion phobia that is exhibited throughout the mainstream media.

"And I want to take a minute or two because I want to put in context how bad things have gotten in the elite media and how utterly alien from historic traditional American culture some elements of the elite media are and I'll let you decide for yourself as you watch them which people accurately fit this," Gingrich added. "But there's a secular, at a minimum skeptical to religion, at a maximum overtly hostile to religion bias in the mainstream media."