In an interview on FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Mornings with Maria (weekdays, 6a-9a/ET), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) discusses the recent comments made by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. When asked what is needed for Trump to become the next president, Gingrich said that Trump needs to “slow down, take a deep breath, and reorganize how he’s operating.” Gingrich went on to say that Trump is “in kind of a slump, he’s thrown a series of interceptions in the last week that really do not bode well for his campaign.
Newt Gingirch on his reaction to Trump’s recent campaign behavior:
“There are two different issues. One is Trump, and the other is Obama…Obama is not exactly the role model of a solid stable person who has achieved a lot. So I think you could get in a nice fight with Obama. Trump has a different challenge. Trump is still behaving like as though it was the primaries and like there was 17 candidates. He has not made the transition to being the potential President of the United States, which is a much tougher league. People are going to watch you every single day. They’re going to take everything they can out of context and he’s not yet performing at the level that you need to. I’m frankly reminded that Joe Montana went through a stretch in his career when he kept throwing interceptions…Trump is in that kind of a slump, he’s thrown a series of interceptions in the last week that really do not bode well for his campaign. “
Newt Gingirch on whether or not Trump will be able to change his behavior and become presidential before the election:
“He has two huge advantages, one is that the country really wants change, and the other is that Hillary Clinton is the most corrupt and dishonest candidate we’ve ever had for president. So there’s always going to be a residual possibility that Trump can win. The question is, can he, in August, slow down, take a deep breath, and reorganize how he’s operating so he gets to the standard of the potential president of the United States. He has not done that up till now. It’s been significantly to his disadvantage…So I think some of what Trump has done is very self-destructive… I don’t know if it’s a fixable problem but I think it’s a very big moment for Trump. He has got to find a way to slow down, really learn some new lessons. This is like The Apprentice except he’s the apprentice and not the boss, he doesn’t get to say “you’re fired”, the American people get to say “you’re fired.” So he really has to take a deep breath. I think he has the potential to be president and I think he has the potential to be a historic president, but to do that I think he has to grow into the size of the job, and not get stuck where he has been, which frankly over the last week, I think has been very disheartening to most of his supporters.”
Newt Gingirch on the need for Trump to “discipline himself”:
“What’s truly frustrating here is that you have a very talented businessman who might become a historic figure, but every morning he has to wake up and say “the only two people I’m fighting with are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.” But other than those two people, any time he talks about anyone else, it is clearly a mistake, until he can discipline himself to be very direct, very controlled…I would say in the last couple weeks he has been remarkably underperforming and we will see whether he can learn these lessons.”
