(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

What happens when you pair a GOP presidential front-runner with the host of a reality TV show? KTVU has it.

KTVU: “Newt Gingrich is not backing away from controversial statements about child labor. In an appearance with Donald Trump in New York, Gingrich said he still thinks poor children should be given a chance to learn work habits. He asked Trump to create an apprentice program similar to his reality show...”

The idea, according to Gingrich, is to give poor children work experience. NY1 has the video.

GINGRICH: “I suggested to Donald Trump that he adopt the program of the apprentices, and take one of the poorer schools in New York City and make 10 apprenticeships that would be paid for part time work.”

But, let’s just say the idea isn’t resonating with Gingrich’s critics. On MSNBC, Al Sharpton asks, if the former House Speaker and real estate mogul were so interested in hiring poor kids -- why haven’t they done it?

SHARPTON: “What I would say is, ‘Fine. Explain to me what all your companies, Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Trump, how many people out of these communities have you hired now? Show me your employment role in diversity. Ten kids after you both have multimillion dollar industries, show us what you already have done in these areas.’ Because on the substance is where I think he would go down.”

The idea isn’t completely new coming from Gingrich. Last week he suggested schools should hire poor children to work as janitors, because kids coming from poor neighborhoods don’t know how to make money quote “unless it’s illegal.” And The Washington Post’s Mary Curtis says, that’s exactly the problem -- with the man and his idea.

“Gingrich’s image of poor homes would be laughable if it weren’t so widely and perniciously accepted among those who have never set foot in one. The stereotype that wealth is a reward for good behavior and poverty is more character flaw than economic circumstance is ubiquitous.”

But many have pointed out -- the candidate has been vague on how the program would actually work. He suggests it would give the poor a choice between work and food stamps. And as TPM’s Pema Levy suggests, the idea does resonate with conservatives.

“Relaxing labor laws appeals to the anti-regulation, libertarian leanings of many conservatives. Moreover, it reiterates the classic conservative argument that welfare harms the poor by making them lazy — a key tenet of welfare reform in the 1990s, of which Newt often boasts.”

According to the Des Moines Register, Gingrich leads the pack in Iowa, the site of the nation’s first caucus.