Newt Gingrich, who ruled over the House as speaker in the 1990s, is open to the possibility of returning to his former post. In a Tuesday radio interview on Fox News Radio, Gingrich and his wife Callista said that both of them support his return to the speakership if they “are called to duty in any way.”
“I am very prepared,” Gingrich said. “I have been talking with a number of members individually, I am very prepared to help the House Republicans think through what they are doing.”
As TPM reported, Gingrich first hinted he’d be open to resuming the speakership on Thursday after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) abruptly dropped out of the race. In an interview with conservative radio host Sean Hannity, Gingrich said, “This is why George Washington came out of retirement — because there are moments you can’t avoid.”
There is currently no frontrunner in the contest to replace John Boehner (R-OH) as speaker. Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Daniel Webster (R-FL) are both running, and many have pressured former vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to make a bid for the job.
Gingrich retired from the House in 1999 following ethics investigations, a rebellion from House conservatives, and GOP losses in the 1998 election. He has not been elected for a federal post since. He ran for the 2012 presidential election as a Republican and has been remained an active figure in the DC political scene, working as a political consultant for conservative think tanks. Both Gingriches acknowledged how difficult it would be for him to resume the speakership.
“My view on this is it has never happened,” Gingrich said. “I don’t think it will happen because it’s almost impossible for an outsider to be able to lead the House.”
His wife concurred, but said that the couple consider themselves “committed citizens” who “have an obligation to listen and to help.”
The Gingriches were visiting “Kilmeade and Friends” to promote their latest books. Callista recently published a new addition to her series of children’s books called “Christmas in America,” while Newt wrote a political thriller titled “Duplicity: A Novel.”
Oh please, Baby Jesus, I don’t ask for much, but please make Newt Gingrich the Speaker of the House again. Thank you, Oh also, Baby Jesus, please have Sarah Palin decide to get in the 2016 race too. Thank you. Amen.
“I’m not a natural leader. I’m too intellectual; I’m too abstract; I think too much.”
~Newt Gingrich, admitting that he’s an intellectual elite incapable of leading.
“If the Soviet empire still existed, I’d be terrified. The fact is, we can afford a fairly ignorant presidency now.”
~Newt Gingrich, saying that it’s okay for the President to be ignorant.
“The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument.”
~Newt Gingrich, arguing that it’s okay for politicians to be bought and paid for.
“Give the park police more ammo.” ~Newt Gingrich, responding to a reporter who asked what to do about the homeless a few days after the police shot a homeless man in front of the White House.
“The problem isn’t too little money in political campaigns, but not enough.”
~Newt Gingrich on campaign finance reform.
“I have enormous personal ambition. I want to shift the entire planet. And I’m doing it. I am now a famous person. I represent real power.”
~Newt Gingrich, blowing his own horn.
“Gingrich – Primary mission, Advocate of civilization, Definer of civilization, Teacher of the rules of civilization, Leader of the civilizing forces.”
~ Newt Gingrich, blowing his own horn.
“The most serious, systematic revolutionary of modern times.”
~Newt Gingrich, blowing his own horn.
“It doesn’t matter what I do. People need to hear what I have to say. There’s no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn’t matter what I live.”
~Newt Gingrich, saying we should do as he says, regardless of what he actually does.
“This is one of the great tragedies of the Bush administration. The more successful they’ve been at intercepting and stopping bad guys, the less proof there is that we’re in danger…. It’s almost like they should every once in a while have allowed an attack to get through just to remind us.”
~Newt Gingrich, at a book talk in Huntington, NY, April 2008, saying that Republicans should allow terrorist attacks on American soil to remind us of the dangers in the world.
“Now, we don’t get rid of it in round one because we don’t think that that’s politically smart, and we don’t think that’s the right way to go through a transition. But we believe it’s going to wither on the vine because we think people are voluntarily going to leave it — voluntarily.”
~Newt Gingrich, admitting that while they won’t kill Medicare outright, Republicans will try to make it wither on the vine and die.
“She isn’t young enough or pretty enough to be the President’s wife.”
~Newt Gingrich, talking about his first wife after divorcing her.
“I read Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them and I found frightening pieces that related to…my own life.”
~Newt Gingrich, talking about his problems with women.
“It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children in child laws which are truly stupid…These schools should get rid of unionized janitors, have one master janitor, pay local students to take care of the school.”
~Newt Gingrich, advocating for an end to child labor laws so businesses can fire union workers and replace them with cheap labor.
“We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto.”
~Newt Gingrich. Two years later, Gingrich unveils a new Spanish-language website, The Americano.
“The left-wing Democrats will represent the party of total hedonism, total exhibitionism, total bizarreness, total weirdness, and the total right to cripple innocent people in the name of letting hooligans loose.”
~Newt Gingrich, smearing Democrats when in fact it’s Republicans who want to cripple innocent people. Remember when they cheered for letting a man without health insurance die? And speaking of exhibitionism and bizarreness, have you seen the Republican Presidential field?
“These people are sick. They are so consumed by their own power, by a Mussolini-like ego, that their willingness to run over normal human beings and to destroy honest institutions is unending.”
~Newt Gingrich, once again smearing Democrats, but telling the complete truth about himself and the GOP. Republicans want to kill Medicare and Social Security, the EPA, and several other honest institutions that serve normal human beings. Speaking of running over normal human beings, remember when Republicans cheered for letting a man without health insurance die?
“I think one of the great problems we have in the Republican party is that we don’t encourage you to be nasty. We encourage you to be neat, obedient, and loyal and faithful and all those Boy Scout words.”
~Newt Gingrich, advocating for hateful rhetoric and smearing opponents with lies.
The mere fact that this guy is announcing his readiness for the job while comparing himself to George Washington shows that there is a serious malignancy in the country.
Dear GOTP House members?
Keep digging.
If that happens I think we seriously need to reassess the presidential line of succession as he will be right after the VP.