Gingrich Praises Trump’s ‘Revolutionary’ Movement

Newt Gingrich may not have succeeded in becoming Donald Trump’s running mate, but he is still a vocal supporter of the Republican nominee. Gingrich praised Trump on July 22 for connecting with new voters and potentially leading “a revolutionary moment.”

“I thought it was a very comprehensive speech,” Gingrich told CNN less than 24 hours after Trump officially accepted his Party’s nomination for presidential candidate. “I thought it was very deliberately designed.”

“He had a series of parts of the speech that were designed, I think, to appeal to African-Americans in the inner city, to appeal to the LGBTQ community, to appeal to a number of people,” Gingrich continued. “He didn’t automatically say it would have been a traditionally Republican speech.”

Gingrich predicted that Trump, who is running as a “law and order” candidate, will campaign in inner city areas to appeal to those voters.

“He and Mike Pence are very likely to campaign in South Side Chicago, Baltimore, the places he mentioned, Detroit and really make the case to the African-American community that 2,000 shootings in the first half of this year in Chicago are just plain unacceptable,” Gingrich added. “Having a Republican prepared to take seriously the lives of the poorest and least served Americans could be almost a revolutionary moment.”

But Trump’s pursuit of the African-American vote is an uphill battle. According to The Hill, a June poll conducted by The Washington Post found that 94 percent of black adults hold a negative view of Trump, while 79 percent hold a favorable view of Hillary Clinton.

“I am not a racist; in fact, I am the least racist person that you’ve ever encountered,” Trump told The Washington Post, according to The Hill.

Gingrich was then asked about a comment made after the July 14 terrorist attack in Nice, France, in which he suggested the US “should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported,” reports CNN.

“There’s going to be a direct fight over Syrians,” Gingrich replied in response to the comment. “The Clinton position is we’re willing to risk American lives by bringing in Syrian refugees about whom we know nothing.”

“We don’t have the data inside Syria to know anything,” Gingrich continued. “That’s just a fact. We don’t have the intelligence penetration. We don’t have any police cooperation. We don’t know anything about these people.” 

Sources: CNN, The Hill / Photo Credit: Newt Gingrich/Instagram