Newt Gingrich Tells Trump What He Needs to Say to Broaden His Base
Former Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, (R-GA), weighed in on the recent shift in tone for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
“His tone all week has been reassuring, it’s been calmer, it’s working off of teleprompters. And I think that this is a very smart guy and he clearly was doing some things that weren’t working. He took a deep breath and I think we’re now seeing sort of a new plateau of how Trump operates and I think that he’ll probably sustain this for the rest of the campaign,” Gingrich told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.
When Bartiromo asked Gingrich how Trump can build more support among groups such as Hispanics, African-Americans and women, Gingrich responded, “In one sense, in every case the message has to be the same, which is ‘I care about you, I understand your lives, I know what you’re worried about, I want to be helpful to you in your terms.’ People need to know that you care before they care that you know, so I think that’s part of it.”
Gingrich discussed how Trump can expand support among the African-American community.
“In the case of the African-American community, his speech the other night in Milwaukee was historic. This is the first Republican candidate in modern times who is going straight at how liberal institutions and liberal bureaucracies and liberal unions have ruined lives for millions of poor people and trapped them in places of tremendous danger and I think if Trump continues that, he is going to get a surprising share of the African-American vote Election Day.”
Gingrich then addressed how Trump can better connect with Latino voters.
“I think with the Latino community, he has to emphasize one, ‘if you’re here legally I’m totally for you. You have every right to be here. I hire legal immigrants. I’m married to a legal immigrant. My mother was a legal immigrant. So I’m for immigrants who are here legally.’ Second, ‘I’m for you having a better job, your child having a better education, you having more take-home pay and you being physically safe.’ Those messages are pretty powerful I think.”
Gingrich explained that this will help clarify Trump’s views on immigration.
“And once people accept the fact that he is not anti-Hispanic, he is anti-illegality, I think in fact you’ll see a lot of people who decide they want to give him a second look.”
Then former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee asked Gringrich how Trump can appeal to Republicans who are still not supporting Trump as the party’s nominee.
“The folks who are out here, who are somehow looking for a perfection test, you know, it’s Donald Trump or perfection, particularly if they’re House and Senate members, you have to wonder if they don’t need to have their heads examined for this reason. If Hillary Clinton wins, they’ve got four more years of being the opposition party, they have four more years of executive orders, they have four more years of a president who constantly outmaneuvers them. On the other hand, with Trump, they’re going to get 60% or 70% or 80% of what they want in a positive, problem-solving way.”