Newt Gingrich, eyed as Donald Trump's running mate, said in a closed meeting in February that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee isn't a conservative,
Politico reports, citing a recording of the session.
"National Review's right. Donald Trump's not a conservative," Gingrich said to a crowd of high-level political operatives and corporate sponsors. The former House speaker made the remarks in February to the Republican State Leadership Committee, and his comments hadn't been reported until
ProPublica obtained an audio recording of the event.
"This is not a guy who's shallow or simple, but he is a guy who knows an immense amount about marketing, which is why he talks at a fourth-grade level. He talks at the lowest level of any candidate in either party, not because he's stupid," Gingrich told the crowd. "He does it because he knows if you talk at a fourth-grade level everybody can understand you."
Out of his 30 minute speech, only 10 minutes were devoted to Trump, according to the
National Review.
Gingrich alternated between backhanded praise of the New York billionaire's marketing talent, and open criticism, calling Trump "an American nationalist," "not normal" and "some weird combination of the Kardashians," which prompted heavy laughter from the audience.
"I mean think about it, the whole tweeting, the whole continuous noise."
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