Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday he hopes President Donald Trump's designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization will open up who is funding it, and said he's "appalled" that members of presumptive Democrat nominee Joe Biden's campaign were donating money to help bail out people arrested during Minnesota's protesting over the death of George Floyd.
"(These) are also people who trashed Seattle years ago," Gingrich said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" in a comment Trump quoted on Twitter soon after.
"They made a habit of this," Gingrich said. "Who is paying for these people? I was appalled that 13 of Joe Biden's staff were donating money to bail people out in Minneapolis. Frankly, I was also appalled that they were being bailed out. They should stay in jail until this is over."
Gingrich on Monday also said he thinks Trump should deliver an Oval Office address about the weekend's violence that rocked cities across the United States.
"I think on the positive side, he should indicate that we support the right of peaceful protest and he should indicate he is prepared to declare an emergency for the destruction," said Gingrich. "We should treat the destruction by these mobs as though it was a hurricane or an earthquake and FEMA should step in, and we should help rebuild whether it's Minneapolis or Atlanta or Washington or Los Angeles. People should not have to bear the brunt of government failing to protect them."
Trump should also outline that the protests are "a war against America," said Gingrich.
"These are not riots in a traditional sense," said Gingrich. "You have a nationwide group, Antifa is part of it, but there are other elements involved . . . who is organizing it? How is it happening? And, frankly lock people up for a very long time."
Gingrich added that the protests are presenting dangers to civilization, and "we have to do whatever it takes to put down the people who would destroy our country."
He also slammed Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, saying he doesn't understand why sites like the National Mall were not protected.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.