Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194
What Just Happened?
Newt Gingrich blasted Mitt Romney’s speech denouncing Donald Trump as “vitriolic and nasty,” Politico reports.
Said Gingrich: “I think if Mitt had really wanted to maneuver for the nomination, he wouldn’t have given the speech he gave last week. Because that speech was so harsh and so intense that it virtually guaranteed that I think both for the Trump people but also for a lot of the Cruz people, that Romney would just plain be unacceptable.”
“Newt Gingrich is the latest party elder to try and normalize the ever-increasing possibility of a Trump presidency, visiting with top GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill earlier this week to pave the way for a future working relationship,” the Daily Beast reports.
“Asked whether he was meeting with GOP leaders about Trump, Gingrich indicated it was more of a casual conversation—but confirmed that he has spoken with party leadership about starting the healing process—no matter which of the four candidates end up winning the nomination.”
Newt Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign still owes $4.6 million, according to the latest FEC filing.
“Most Republicans look at what’s happening and think we’re watching a new stage of left-wing nuttiness. It’s just surreal.”
— Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), quoted by the Washington Post.
With 11 weeks until the first Republican presidential debate, Newt Gingrich told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that “he’s not sure how you fit 16 people on stage — perhaps you have them draw lots and conduct two debates — but he does not want to see an artificial cap.”
Said Gingrich: “I don’t know how you do it early on but I’m very much concerned that we don’t have either the news media or the party institutions kill people before they even get a chance to see the voters. The American people should decide which candidates are real, not some formula designed by people to see the best known.”
“It is a tribute to the professionalism of the Clintons — we could fight, and we could fight in some really tough ways… but we were able to compartmentalize. I have a lot of respect for her. She is very hardworking.”
— Newt Gingrich, quoted by the Daily Beast, praising Hillary Clinton.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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