Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is arguing Donald Trump should not limit his general election strategy to a handful of states, but should run a campaign in “all 50 states.”
During a Facebook Live video on his page Wednesday, Gingrich, asked his advice for Trump, said: “Do not concede anybody to Hillary, except for immediate family.”
“Go after Latinos, go after African-Americans, go after millennials, go after Asian-Americans, go after Rhode Island and California,” the 2012 Republican presidential candidate said.
“He should plan to campaign in all 50 states,” Gingrich said. “He is the least expensive candidate in modern times. He can afford to spread the campaign everywhere because every time he’s on television, he’s in the whole country.”
“So if he’s going to be in all 50 states anyway, he ought to go ahead and organize for being in all 50 states and that would have an enormous affect on the campaign,” he said.
Gingrich, perhaps a potential running mate to Trump, recently criticized the New York businessman over his attacks on a federal judge for his Mexican ancestry.
But during the Facebook Live video, Gingrich made a historical comparison, saying Ronald Reagan had some tough days during his campaign before turning his campaign around.
He said the Trump campaign has made “some pretty bad mistakes, and I was very clear publicly about that.”
“But I also remember because I was a campaigner back then,” Gingrich said, “I remember that Ronald Reagan had a terrible August of 1980. And all of us who were for Reagan were very worried that some something bad was going to happen and that he was going to get defeated by Jimmy Carter. And they had to stop and reorganize their campaign.”
“So I’m not in despair in early June, but I do think that Trump has to focus on making clear the big differences,” he said. “And a good example is this economy. If Hillary Clinton believes that an economy that produces one job for every 8,000 Americans is an ok economy, well Trump ought to be able to draw a big distinction.”
Gingrich argued Trump needs to make the campaign about political issues.
“This is a situation where Trump, if he goes big, talks about big differences, talks about the opportunity to make a big difference, I think he does a better job than if he gets sucked down a into personality fight, which I think Hillary would love,” Gingrich said.
“I mean, if she could avoid talking about the economy, talking about left-wing judges, talking about failed foreign policy, if she could just get into a Hillary personality versus a Donald personality, I think she would like that more than getting involved in a debate over reality.”
“She can win a campaign of words,” Gingrich said. “She cannot win a campaign based on reality because the reality simply aren’t working for her.”