by WorldTribune Staff, September 8, 2017
Reagan biographer Craig Shirley, has just published “Citizen Newt”, which sheds light, he said, on the reasons former Speaker Newt Gingrich has influenced President Donald Trump.
“Trump respects Gingrich, I suspect, because he utterly routed the shallow Washington culture” during his years in Congress, Shirley told Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner.
“Gingrich saw part of his mission was to redefine what was important in Washington and like Ronald Reagan, saw the American people as important and the self-absorbed, supercilious, self-aggrandizing corrupt liberal comrades of Washington as mouth breathing sub humans,” Shirley said.
In his book, “Understanding Trump”, Gingrich credited Trump for being able to shift positions quickly and speak bluntly, qualities with which the former House speaker self-identified.
Reagan once quipped to Gingrich how tempting it would be to bomb the Capitol and there is little doubt Trump agrees with that sentiment,” Shirley said.
A White House insider told Bedard that Newt’s value to Trump is his outsider’s view and his insider’s success.
“Newt is respected for his viewpoints by Trump and appreciates his outside perspective. Although they sometimes disagree about the right approach, Gingrich and Trump both have one thing in common that the president loves: they took over Washington when no one expected it and turned the town upside down,” said the Trump advisor.
GOP pollster David Winston, a former Gingrich aide, added that Newt always has new ideas and can focus on the big play of the day.
“What’s his value to Trump? He’s been the third-ranking official in the country who is one of the best idea people on the conservative and Republican side. Who wouldn’t want to have conversations with him?” said Winston.