Posted on 04/06/2016 6:53:18 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Newt Gingrich on Wednesday marveled at one of Donald Trump's biggest accomplishments in the 2016 race — making Ted Cruz appear normal.
The former House speaker predicted that Cruz could be boosted at a contested convention by establishment support, something that would be unthinkable without an even more polarizing figure like Trump in the race.
“The challenge is entirely on Trump,” said Gingrich, who has been supportive of Trump. “He is not gonna get any help out of the establishment. They have reluctantly concluded that if, you know — Trump in a funny way has normalized Ted Cruz because without Trump, the establishment would be totally opposed to Cruz.”
Indeed, the senator has only garnered support from fellow Sens. Mike Lee and Lindsey Graham. But Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have also backed his campaign as the best alternative to Trump.
Gingrich pushed back on the notion that anyone other than Trump or Cruz could win the nomination. The 2012 convention rules, he said, were designed to block anybody from competing with Mitt Romney and now make it nearly impossible for someone who isn’t running in 2016 to become the nominee. The 2016 rules, however, won’t be set until the convention begins.
“This could end up being, you know, a really right-down-to-the-wire contest between these two guys,” Gingrich said. “If Trump doesn’t get it, then it will slide to Cruz.”
Trump has a 226-delegate advantage over the Texas senator, who won Wisconsin by a double-digit margin Tuesday. But the Republican front-runner is still nearly 500 delegates shy of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination outright before the convention.
While it’s tough to see Cruz surpassing Trump in delegates, Gingrich continued, he has the campaign to win a multi-ballot convention.
“What Cruz of course has done, very intelligently, is he has gone out and he has poached on the delegates that are going to be bound to Trump legally on the first vote, but they’re not bound after the first vote,” he said. “So what he’s trying to do is win elections in Louisiana, in Georgia, etc., where he picks up people that are pledged to help him once they meet their legal obligations. So Cruz, I think, will tell you he will actually get stronger on the second and third ballots. Trump probably won’t. Trump really has to rush to victory on the first ballot, I think.”
Gingrich said he could support either candidate as the nominee but joined the choir of people urging the New York billionaire to be more presidential. Trump has said he will, but doing so would be “boring as hell.”
Trump blasted Cruz and the establishment following a 13-point loss in Wisconsin — a message Gingrich decried as “self-destructive.”
For Trump to win, Gingrich said, his campaign has to give his convention manager Paul Manafort significantly more authority — “because Manafort’s the one real professional he has in the organization who has been through this before, who knows how to do it” — and pump more money into a more expansive daily grassroots delegate operation, in addition to being more presidential.
“The statement he issued last night was, frankly, just self-destructive,” Gingrich said about the missive, which stated, “Donald J. Trump withstood the onslaught of the establishment yet again. Lyin' Ted Cruz had the Governor of Wisconsin, many conservative talk radio show hosts, and the entire party apparatus behind him.”
It went on say, "Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet — he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump.”
Gingrich on Wednesday said: “It was angry and it was hostile. It was demeaning. It’s everything that turns people off about him. He has had a great run, but he has to get to a new plateau if he’s gonna win.”
oopps. bye newt.
Would this be the “Good Newt” or the “Bad Newt”???
Every Word Trump said was right on. Cruz is a GOPe Tool.
Cruz is normal, you nimrod. Newt’s forgotten what conservatives look like.
Nobody could make Newt look normal.
Rush, Levin, Sowell, move over, make room for Newt under that bus!
Too bad Trump doesn’t have someone to make him appear normal.
Good Newt praises Trump.
Bad Newt gets realistic.
Btw, you can’t ask someone to act Presidential. If you ain’t got no class, no amount of polishing will make gold out that turd.
I’ll bet you think scruz is a “good man” ? Tell me true. Ill inform you real bad.
Let’s be real: the Republican establishment’s favored candidate is Hillary Clinton.
Correct observation.
quote “without Trump, the establishment would be totally opposed to Cruz”
that should be said again and again and screamed from the rooftops!
the GOPe would have fought JUST AS HARD against Cruz as they are fighting against Trump had Trump not entered the race. The only difference is... Cruz wouldn’t have stood a chance in that situation.
Sometimes when you go to Superior, you find out that you are inferior.
Whoa.
What’s the frequency, Kenneth?
I’m a TRUMP supporter, and I have to agree with Newt.
TRUMP already has the “40%” supporters in his bag, but the 11-15% additional he needs, will need to be gotten with a more ‘strategic’ approach. Not the same approach that he’s gotten the 40%. He doesn’t have to change any of his positions, just get off the petty and personal attacks and concentrate more on staying ON MESSAGE with his POSITIONS that got him the 40% support.
Newt Wobbled. There is no wobbling.
No. The GOPe is just falling in line.
Globalists are not conservative, Cruz is a Globalist.
-——oopps. bye newt.-——
Is there a singe point Newt made that was incorrect.....?
In case you haven’t noticed Trump needs Newt a lot more than Newt needs Trump...
Newt lends of level of conservative support, if he bails on Trump, Trump will be damaged..
Newt trying to help your guy and you toss him under the bus?
Your candidate should listen to him instead of playing on Twitter...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.