Republican Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday he doesn’t understand why former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former President George W. Bush and Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney would not vote for President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
“I don’t understand how Mitt Romney and George Bush, despite irritation with Trump, I don’t quite understand how they can say that’s a better future for America and I think that’s a very frightening future for America,” Gingrich said during an interview on “Mornings with Maria” on the Fox Business Network.
Powell made his announcement Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying he could “not in any way support” the president. Romney supported one of the articles of impeachment leveled against Trump.
A spokesman for Bush said Monday that the report of the former president not supporting Trump in 2020 is “completely made up.” (RELATED: Bush Office Thanks Trump For Support Amid State Funeral)
Gingrich outlined in the interview some of what he understood to be the long-term political implications of their dissent.
“What I’m surprised by is, this is not about Trump, this is about Trump versus [Joe] Biden, Pelosi and Sen. [Chuck] Schumer,” Gingrich said. “From a conservative perspective … we’re going to end up sabotaging our presidential candidate, guaranteeing we lose the Senate and guaranteeing Pelosi gets to stay as Speaker … ”
Gingrich said he has examined Democratic California House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s coronavirus stimulus bill, which he called in the interview a “$3 trillion-dollar bill which is filled with radicalism.”
He continued, saying, “I think people need to understand what’s coming [if Trump is defeated]; you’re in for radical change in America in January, February, March of 2021.”
Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol May 14, 2020 in Washington, DC. Speaker Pelosi held a weekly news conference to fill questions from members of the press. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Gingrich said Powell’s announcements should cause “no great shock” and recalled that he had voted for Hillary Clinton. (RELATED: Rep. Matt Gaetz Wants Sen. Mitt Romney Expelled From The Republican Caucus)
The former speaker said Trump represents dramatic change from both a policy and personality perspective. He called him the most “disrupting” president “since Andrew Jackson,” comparing the scope of his policy changes to those of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, when the United States was on the precipice of a civil war.
Gingrich said Trump has represented an affront to many traditional Republicans, such as those who “fought the wars in the Middle East” as well as corporate Republicans who “are offended by his aggressive entrepreneurial style.”