In previous GOP debates, the audience booed a gay soldier, cheered Rick Perry for setting a record in executions, and applauded letting people without health insurance die.

Last night, another appalling moment was added to this catalog of infamy: GOP Debate Audience Cheers Child Labor.

“I think every person up here worked at a young age,” Gingrich declared. “What I suggested was kids ought to be able to work part time in schools, particularly in the poorest neighborhoods.”

“If you take one half of the New York janitors, who are paid more than the teachers. An entry-level janitor gets paid twice as much as an entry-level teacher. You take half those janitors, you could give lots of poor kids a work experience in the cafeteria, in the school library, in the front office, in a lot of different things. I’ll stand by the idea young people ought to learn how to work.”

With that, the Republican audience erupted with applause.