A Newt Gingrich win in Saturday’s South Carolina primary will fundamentally change the entire Republican presidential race, property mogul Donald Trump said in an exclusive Newsmax.TV interview.
And the biggest effect would be in the next primary – Jan. 31 in Florida – by far the largest and most important of the early-voting states, he added.
“If South Carolina goes to Gingrich, it could certainly change things in Florida,” said Trump, who flirted with a run for the White House himself in the early stages of the race.
Editor's Note: Do you agree with Donald Trump? Can Gingrich become the Nominee if he wins South Carolina? Tell us what you think. Vote here!
“Everything is wide open. There is nothing done,” he added. “I’m in deal-making, deal-making is what I do, and until you’re signed and sealed and delivered, until that bottom line is finished, nothing is ever done.
Story continues below the video.
Trump said he has never seen a race like this year’s GOP battle, in which four candidates, Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are now left, battling it out for the right to face President Barack Obama in November. “People go up and down like yo-yos,” he said.
“Look at Mitt, he was hot as a pistol a month and a half ago and then he went way down and now he’s doing well, so you just don’t know. Newt, if you look eight weeks ago, it was amazing how he went up.
“They’re going up, they’re going down. I have never seen anything like it.”
Trump pointed out that while the battle in South Carolina is important, it is not as important as the upcoming one in Florida. With 29 Electoral College votes, the Sunshine State has more than the 25 that the other four early voting states – Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada – have combined.
Trump praised former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin for urging voters in South Carolina to vote for Gingrich so the race continues. Even Gingrich has said that a decisive Romney win there would effectively seal the nomination.
“I understand exactly what she is saying,” said Trump. “I don’t view it as an endorsement, but I certainly view it as getting a little bit close. Her words carry a lot of weight.”
He also said a possible Rudy Giuliani endorsement would really help Gingrich, especially in Florida where thousands of former New Yorkers now live. “I can see that happening. They are friends, there is a lot of respect and I could see him endorsing Newt.”
All East Coasters respect the former New York mayor, Trump added. “His endorsement would carry some weight.”
Trump cautioned that it could be time for Gingrich and Romney – whom he described as “two strong people, very different people” – to start pulling their punches.
“They are really hurting each other and it is only helping Obama,” he said.
Gingrich has surged in polls in the Palmetto State this week following his strong performance in the Martin Luther King Day debate in Myrtle Beach. Trump said that claims by one of his ex-wives that he asked her for an open marriage did not seem to have hurt the former House speaker.
“That was a nasty situation and totally inappropriate,” he said. “But you would think that would have been a negative, but it doesn’t seem to be turning out nearly as negative as they thought, and Newt continues to march.”
“Newt really has been surging. He has done really well in the debates. He is forthright, he has had some very tough questions, like the one with the ex-wife. I thought that it was a very unfair question to be asked but he handled it, he knocked it out of the park.
“Mitt’s done nicely in the debates, but not to the same extent,” Trump added.
Editor's Note: Do you agree with Donald Trump? Can Gingrich become the Nominee if he wins South Carolina? Tell us what you think. Vote here!
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.