Newt Gingrich: The Real Story of the Republican Revolution

I'm Judge Jeanine Pirro with an important announcement. America is being taken down. We are no longer a sovereign nation with borders, but a globalist landing spot with benefits for all who demand entry and then receive all the benefits of American citizens.

And we don't even know who they are. Our borders are the entry point for fentanyl and the artery throughout our country, killing 100,000 Americans a year. Our economy on the verge of recession. Our public schools no longer teach education, but are focused on indoctrination and transforming our children. In my new book, Crimes Against America, the left's takedown of our republic, I present an indictment against the left. Get your copy today at judgejbook.com. This is a must read if you care about our nation. No other book presents a case against those who are destroying our nation. Get your copy today at judgejbook.com.

That's judgejbook.com. Newt, great to see you, Mr. Speaker. It's great to be back with you.

And it's always fun. And I have to tell you, I'm so impressed with the work you're doing on history and how much you're reintroducing Americans to their own country. Well, I mean, that's fundamentally, that's your major path.

You like politics, but you love history. I really do. And you have done an amazing job.

Well, thanks. I mean, the new book I have coming out is Teddy and Booker T. And we're going to Tuskegee University and knowing that this one man started it in a broken down house while he spoke. There was rain coming through the roof and he had to have one of his students hold an umbrella. And next thing you know, it's a sprawling university with an institution that is educated tens of millions of students around the country. I mean, to me, that's a legacy. And then I'm watching Tim Scott having the same debate on the view to a degree that they were having in 1880 and 1890 and 1915.

We still haven't gotten through it. Well, what makes it poignant is that this August is the 60th anniversary of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. I have a dream speech where he says, what matters is the content of your character, not the color of your skin, which, of course, was Booker T. Washington's whole point that people could grow, people could do better. That, in fact, America was a country that had opportunity, the opposite of the left-wing views that came to dominate so much of the black community. I know you were a military family, so you moved a lot.

Right. But when you, could you describe what Georgia was like when you got there? What was like? What was like in society in Georgia and race relations? Well, when I got there, because I'm old enough, I got there when it was still segregated.

That's what I mean. And it was. And later when I went to Tulane and was in New Orleans, the memory of the segregation was like a decade old. And so literally you'd have white only water fountains, white only bathrooms.

African-Americans couldn't sit at a lunch counter. I mean, it's important to remember, and I heard Tim Scott last night beautifully describe that his grandfather, who'd been born in 1921, would get off the pavement and keep his eyes looking down if a white person went by, but that his grandfather believed in America and he thought if he worked hard, his son would do better. And if his son worked hard, his son would do better. And now, of course, the grandson is running for president as a United States senator. And I think that's why Tim represents an optimistic vision of America. And frankly, for the life of me, I've never understood how Barack Obama and Michelle Obama could be elected to the White House twice and yet have a sense of resentment that somehow they were limited in their future by race.

And it just made no sense at all. And I think I think in many ways, Obama put us back a generation in his attitudes. You know, it's different. The Senator Obama seemed much more patriotic than President Obama. He seemed much more positive and optimistic. You remember that speech after Reverend Wright? And he came out and said that was a different generation. We've gone past that now. And I thought kind of ad libs a lot of it, too. And I thought, wow, man, this guy's different. Yeah. His Philadelphia speech in response to Wright was brilliant, but something happened. I don't know whether I think part of the problem now is that in the Democratic Party, the people who get together at the cocktail parties and at the fundraisers all reinforce each other and kind of a bitter hostile to America viewpoint.

And it gradually just seeps in as a kind of acid. Right. I just never felt more aware. Everyone's always talking about race and and ethnicity and gender.

And now we know what's going on with gender. I get I get excited this time of year. Because I even on both sides, I remember when when the Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton fight was going, I loved it, loved every second of it. It was just to see the tactics and to see if this young senator was going to beat the established candidate and the Clinton legacy.

How would it do with Bill? And now I'm watching on the Republican side. I don't remember a more talented group. Everyone's got some talent. I mean, you got the former president.

We've never seen this before in my lifetime. Grover Cleveland, I guess. William Jennings Bryant was somebody who ran a couple of times in a row. But now we have Senator Tim Scott.

Great story. Governor Nikki Haley's got the governor backgrounds, got the international experience. Then on the then you turn around, have Governor DeSantis, the most successful governor in the country who's done more for Florida than anybody else. Unbelievable intellect and background.

And then you have a former president who got 72 million votes last time. Governor Christie is a talented, great prosecutor. Let's see if he can resonate. And then you have Asa Hutchinson, who's got a huge, great resume. So this is going to some you have some talent on that stage, don't you think?

Well, I think there's an enormous talent, the great personal human stories. And, you know, frankly, I think it's good for America. I mean, when you have a Tim Scott out there explaining and taking on the left wing's racist views, the country's going to resonate with Tim.

I mean, I happened to see him last night here at Fox. And he's doing a great job. He is as totally positive as anyone I know. And I think it's deep.

It's inside him. It's based in part on his Christian beliefs. But at the same time, Nikki Haley, first generation parents came from India. She was she ran a small business. She became governor. She and she was a very tough very tough reform governor. Then she got to be U.N. ambassador.

Great story. And I think what in Iowa and in New Hampshire, these folks are going to really that's a Republican Party, this diverse, inclusive, idea oriented and frankly, smart. I mean, compare that with Kamala Harris.

Yeah. Who has the opportunity of a lifetime. I mean, if she was a productive vice president, like we're used to with Dick Cheney and you would always want Al Gore was productive. Nobody thought he couldn't handle anything. Nobody thought that Mike Pence couldn't deliver and provide all the background about running government that Donald Trump didn't know because he was doing something else his whole career. And she has this opportunity.

Doesn't do it. Have you ever heard of a vice president being asked to do something like the border and just not doing it? Well, I think that they have a real challenge in the Democratic Party because Kamala Harris is at least two levels above her competence and maybe three. I'm not sure she was.

She was an attorney general in California, U.S. senator and then vice president. And it's pretty clear that she just can't do the job. And what's what's weird is at that level, you can usually prop somebody up with really good staff. Right. And it doesn't seem to work. I mean, it doesn't seem like there's anything you can do to get her to be effective.

Right. And she's had this opportunity to do an example, the debt ceiling. I mean, that would have been a perfect time if you're if you're Joe Biden or you're concerned about the ticket to say, we're going to put her at the head. She's going to be there with her sleeves rolled up.

Joe has got to finish up the G7 and go to go to his two other stops, Australia and Papua New Guinea. And we're going to put the vice president there. And then you have a few Democrats come out and say, wow, she's amazing. She got into the details of it.

She could have gotten credit instead. She was just marching around the country. As far as I know, she was even in Washington during it. It's fascinating to me.

And I think that when you watch it, it's almost embarrassing, frankly. She gave by the way, she did give a very good speech at West Point. I read the speech and I you know, that's one of the few places I've seen where she was well staffed. She delivered it well, you know, and if she could be disciplined to do that, she might recover. But I think she's now so deeply embedded. And I thought it was fascinating that Nikki Haley said yesterday that she's not running against Joe Biden, she's running against Kamala Harris, because if Biden were to get reelected, Harris would be president. That's an interesting tact, right? I think he shook up the White House pretty badly.

And I did. I know the press secretary had no answer. So Governor Sununu yesterday, you know, the family, Chris Sununu is very successful two term governor going for three gets elected every two years. Here's what he said. He said that Donald Trump has no chance of winning cut eight. The math has shown Donald Trump has no chance of winning in November of twenty four. He won't even win Georgia. If you're a Republican that can't win Georgia of November twenty four, you have no shot. And he's proven that. So and not only has he proven it, but the candidates he gets behind in a good conservative state like Georgia lose the race. His messaging doesn't translate.

It does well with a hardcore 30, 35 percent base, but he loses everybody beyond there. And no one is undecided about the former president. So he's he he's a positive guy, but he is down on President Trump. Does he have a point of you? Well, he has a point unless Trump can disprove it. I mean, in all the recent polls, Trump's the head of Biden. In fact, Trump's the head of Biden by more than DeSantis. So I think it all depends. Are there people who are tired of Trump's behavior?

Yes. Do those people when they say, OK, I didn't particularly like his tweets, but it all worked. And I really dislike Biden and think it's not working. Biden is down at like twenty five or twenty eight percent on whether or not his policies work now.

So I'm not prepared. I frankly think Trump probably would win the general election. But what's interesting to me is none of the people who are anti Trump, we'll see if Chris Christie is different. None of them actually take Trump head on about policy. I mean, he is he's essentially won the policy fight inside the Republican Party. And so they've got to find some angle of attack. And I think they're all a little afraid because they know that the people who are for Trump, which is in the latest poll, 53 percent of the Republicans against the entire field, they really like Trump.

And so here you are. If you attack him too much, do you then lose the general election? Because none of the Trump voters will vote for you. And the question is, too, are you going to get Michigan back? Are you going to get Wisconsin back? Are you going to get Georgia back? Are you going to get Arizona back?

What has changed in that interim? And is he is that a coachable thing that you could do with the president, with the former president to try to try to persuade Arizona to go back to your way? Because without these states, you don't win.

Pennsylvania is going to be a tough road. Yeah, I think but I think part of the question is, can can Trump, who's who's very different, somebody pointed out the other day, I thought it was a very useful insight that Trump is an entertainer. He's totally different from any politician you ever seen, except maybe Ronald Reagan, because he spent 13 years with a top rated show called The Apprentice. So he got up every day and thought because NBC was paying him a lot of money. And he got up every day and thought, what is it I need to do to keep the audience? Because he'd figured out the television is pretty ruthless. You know, if you have an audience, you get paid. If you don't have an audience, you don't get paid. And NBC liked him enough.

They offered him a pretty good bit of money to not run for president because they wanted to keep the show. Yeah. So this guy, he takes that same talent. And he's funny. I mean, if you watch him, he's an entertainer. It's I used to tell him he's a vaudevillian. This is vaudeville. He loves doing this big, big events because he gets out there on stage. And he's exactly like an old time vaudeville actor. And he goes off on a riff.

And, you know, when people start rocking and rolling with him. And I think that people don't understand if he's my guess is he's probably going to be the nominee by March. Because if they can't beat him in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, it's over. True. And you're going to lose the herd will thin by after Iowa.

Correct. And then you'll thin a big time after New Hampshire. And then we'll see what happens because he set up winner take all a lot of these things. I want to go back to the history of your March to majority right after this. We'll take a short time out. News book just came out.

It's rockening up Amazon charts. March to the majority. It's really how new became speaker and how the country changed with the new with with the new deal. And that with your new deal with your contract with America.

That's true. Back in a moment. Newsmakers and news breakers here at first on the Brian Kilmeade show. I'm Judge Jeanine Pirro with an important announcement. America is being taken down. We are no longer a sovereign nation with borders, but a globalist landing spot with benefits for all who demand entry and then receive all the benefits of American citizens.

And we don't even know who they are. Our borders are the entry point for fentanyl and the artery throughout our country killing one hundred thousand Americans a year. Our economy on the verge of recession. Our public schools no longer teach education, but are focused on indoctrination and transforming our children. In my new book, Crimes Against America, the left's takedown of our republic. I present an indictment against the left. Get your copy today at Judge J. Book dot com. This is a must read if you care about our nation.

No other book presents a case against those who are destroying our nation. Get your copy today at Judge J. Book dot com.

That's Judge J. Book dot com. We're back. Newt Gingrich is here. His book is now out. It's really his story, his professional story. March to the Majority, the real story of the Republican Revolution.

Newt, how did you go from professor backbencher to architect of the Contract with America to becoming speaker and implementing it? That's what this is about. Yeah, and it's really it's really a playbook for anybody who wants to learn how to do it.

It's not just a history book about the past, but you can take step by step what we learned. I always remind people I ran twice and lost. I won the third time.

So cheerful persistence is a key part of my life. And then in 1978, after I won, I said to the Republican leadership, we've been in the minority 24 years. Don't we need a plan to become a majority? And they said, that's a terrific idea. Let's create a committee. You're in charge before I was even sworn in.

Wow. But we lost in 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, 90 and 92. And it wasn't that we were doping around. I mean, we were working every two years.

It was a it was a bigger mountain than I thought it was. And we finally learned so many lessons that are in March the majority. And in 94, it all came together. But I always remind people we stood on Reagan's shoulders. Reagan, for example, proposed welfare reform running for governor in 1965. We passed it in 1996, 31 years. Reagan did the first Capitol Steps event, which I helped organize in 1980 and brought every House and Senate candidate together.

They had Reagan described it as a contract and five items. We picked up so many House, Senate seats that year we won control when nobody thought we would. So Reagan entered office with a Republican Senate. We gained 29 seats in the House and that made it possible to pass the Reagan program. And David Broder wrote a column saying what a courageous step it was.

The Republican presidential candidates normally ran away from their party. Reagan went over and embraced it and said, look, if I'm going to govern, I need you guys. And you should think about what the country was at then. We were in double digits interest rates of the malaise. There was a sense that where our best days were behind us. And then in comes this optimistic guy who people thought was too radical to be elected in 76.

But in 80, he seemed to work. Well, he said one time he kept saying the same things, but the country came around and he had this great line about Carter. He said, you know, if your brother in law loses his job, it's a recession.

If you lose your job, it's a depression. If Jimmy Carter loses his job, it's a recovery. That's awesome. But see, this happened. You pointed out, too, with Speaker McCarthy. People said it wasn't enough.

He didn't get enough. And you said he got enough because you remember the blueprint. The blueprint is you got to do things incrementally. You just didn't rattle off three balanced budgets you built to that.

That's right. I always tell people we started with one step. And if you look at the debt ceiling deal as one step, it's a good step.

If you think it's the final step, it's a bad step. But it took us three years to get to a balanced budget. We then did it for four straight years, the only time in your lifetime. We got welfare reform in our second year, not our first year. And we also closed the government twice.

With 26 days was one time and about six days the other time. All the news media said, oh, this is terrible. The Republicans are going to suffer. We became the first reelected majority since 1928 because people thought we were serious. We were determined and we were committed. And I think you're going to see that Speaker McCarthy really means to keep this deal. And the Senate Republicans, many of them are about to have a real challenge because they want to spend a lot more money. And I don't think he's going to do it.

So interesting. George H.W. Bush, you talk about Tip O'Neill, Richard Nixon and the Ronald Reagan story.

But what about you working with Bill Clinton? Did you guys understand? Why did you guys understand that compromise would equal accomplishment?

Well, we don't seem to understand that today. He was very different. Clinton had been governor of a very conservative state. He won in 78 as the youngest governor in the country. He lost in 80 and it just shook his life. He lost the mansion, the car, the airplane. No longer governor. You know, he's wandering around. And he said this to me all the time.

He wandered around for a year just moping. And finally, some guy at a rural small store said to him, son, you've gone around apologized enough. Just run for governor. You'll win.

It'll be fine. So he finally wins again in 82 and again gets reelected. He had dealt with a very conservative Arkansas legislature.

Wow. And that's all in the book. And it's good to get a perspective so you don't overreact to the news.

Go deeper on the issues, especially the recent history. And you can do that with Newt's book, March to the Majority. Newt, great to get this quality time. Absolutely. It's great to see you in studio. Listen to the show ad free on Fox News Podcast Plus on Apple podcast, Amazon music with your prime membership or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.