Jon Voight Endorses Mitt Romney in Florida Primary, Claims Gingrich 'Falls Short'

Actor Jon Voight offered his support to Mitt Romney for the 2012 GOP presidential bid in front of a crowd of hundreds at a Pensacola, Fla. seafood restaurant Saturday. Rallying alongside Romney and Sen. John McCain, the academy award winning actor claimed Newt Gingrich falls short of Romney in many ways.

Governor Romney is a man of faith, honor, love, and truth. These are the first very important qualities a president must have. He is strong, honest, and wants to bring the country back to its exceptional place, where we have been for hundreds and hundreds of years, until President Obama decided to follow his father's footsteps and take us to socialism, Voight said, as reported by ABC News.

Voight and Sen. John McCain rallied together in support for Romney's presidential bid. Romney has struggled in the past few weeks after former Speaker of the House Gingrich surged in the polls.

I'm sorry to say Speaker Gingrich may fall short in many ways, Voight added at the rally on Saturday. Please join me to bring in Gov. Mitt Romney as the next President of the United States.

In 2008, Voight initially supported Rudy Giuliani for the presidential bid, but after the former New York City mayor came in a third-place finish in the Florida primary, he went on to support and campaign for Sen. John McCain.

Best known for his roles in Midnight Cowboy, Coming Home, The Rainmaker and 24, Voight is a staunch Republican and has openly discussed his distrust in President Obama. In June 2010, the actor wrote an open letter to the president expressing his frustration in his policies towards Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish People.

You are putting Israel in harm's way, he wrote to the president, and you have promoted anti-Semitism throughout the world.

Romney, who also attended the Saturday rally, joked to the crowd that he didn't know how to chit chat with a famous actor like Voight, ABC reported.

I started talking about my five boys, said Romney of his conversation with Voight. I said, you know, it's easier to raise boys than girls. Well, after a long pause, he says, 'Tell me about it.'

Voight's comment comes as little surprise. In addition to his successful film career, Voight is the father of former bad-girl Angelina Jolie. Voight and Jolie have a historically strained and difficult relationship.

After losing the S.C. Republican primary to his chief rival, Gingrich, Romney hopes he can persuade Fla. voters to support his bid for the GOP nomination. The former Massachusetts governor has surged in the polls in the past few days and seems set to win in the crucial Fla. primary.

The winner of Florida is in all likelihood going to be the nominee of our party, Fla. Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN.