Mr. Newt said: “She’s not going to be the de facto leader.” Of course she isn’t the de facto leader of the party.As you quoted, he said she is not going to be the de facto leader.
So using the first definition of "de facto"---"actual"---Newt is saying she is not going to be the leader.
Using the second definition---"Exercising power or serving a function without being legally or officially established"---many people here see her as that.
I see her as the de facto Leader of American Patriotic Conservatives.
Newt's quote of “But she’s going to be one of 20 or 30 significant players" is IMO his way of marginalizing her.
He does not want her to be promite on the scene as one displaying the values of the GOP. Because she doesn't. She displays the politics and values of Conservative America.
That's a lot different than Newt and his GOP.
His politics are seeped in the new old traditions of the GOP.
Sarah seems to be a Conservative which is much different from Newt and his record.
We coulda used just one in the primaries. WTH were they then??