Newt or Schrute: the Quiz

Can you tell the difference between Dwight Schrute and Newt Gingrich? No, you probably can’t.

One of these is Newt Gingrich. Or maybe both. We just don't know.via The Other 98%

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In case you haven’t heard, in his younger days former House Speaker Newt Gingrich looked an awful lot like Dwight Schrute*.

But the eerie similarities surely end there, right? I mean, one of them is mercurial, despised by his colleagues, in love with animals, obsessed with pop culture mythology and modern warfare, and wrapped up in an endless subplot involving a blonde love interest.

And the other one is Dwight Schrute.

Take this short Mother Jones quiz to find out if you can tell the difference between Newton Leroy Gingrich and Dwight Kurt Schrute III.

For the record: While many have chimed in on the physical resemblance between Newt and Schrute—BuzzFeedThe Daily ShowCollegeHumor, the Daily MailThe Today Show, and even Rainn Wilson himself—we believe the news team here at MoJo actually started the Newt/Schrute meme. It all began with a Tumblr post on the night of a Republican presidential debate in November. The trend began catching on in December and January. (We’ll try to be modest about this, though.)

And if you need any further proof that these two men likely share DNA, check out their shared devotion to the Star Wars saga. Here’s the former House speaker gushing about how George Lucas’s series reflects the “core values in American civilization” (the video of Newt starts at 00:43):

. . . and here’s Dwight going all-out on Halloween:

Boom. Case closed.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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