WEBVTT - When One Side Wins.  Newt Gingrich Talks to A&G

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<v Speaker 1>Newt Gingrich was a history professor in Georgia in the

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<v Speaker 1>seventies and he got interested in politics and decided to

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<v Speaker 1>run and he ended up being a member of the

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<v Speaker 1>House of Representatives representing his state of Georgia. UM and

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<v Speaker 1>worked his way up until he was the Speaker of

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<v Speaker 1>the House. Then, after forty plus years of Democrats controlling

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<v Speaker 1>the House of Representative, in some belief that demographically Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>would control the House forever, Newt put together the Contract

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<v Speaker 1>with America and was able to lead a Republican revolution.

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<v Speaker 1>He called it in four for Republicans take take the

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<v Speaker 1>House back after forty plus years, and he did a

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<v Speaker 1>battle with Bill Clinton. If you were following politics at

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<v Speaker 1>the time, it is very, very exciting time to be alive. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Since then, he's continued as an historian, to write a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of books and stay active in politics. Ran for

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<v Speaker 1>president and uh did pretty well back there in two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand twelve. But now he's out with a brand new

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<v Speaker 1>book called Trump and the American Future, solving the great

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<v Speaker 1>problems of our time. New Gingrich, Welcome to the Armstrong

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<v Speaker 1>and Getty Show. Appreciate the time this morning. Well listen,

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<v Speaker 1>it's great to be with you and they have a

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<v Speaker 1>chance to chat. Be very excited by the new book

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<v Speaker 1>because I think as you go into this particular election,

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<v Speaker 1>I think having an ability to effects and figures and

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to talk with your friends and neighbors

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<v Speaker 1>can be very very important. Yeah. Yeah, and it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's more difficult than ever. So before we get into that,

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<v Speaker 1>You're you're in a historian. You've been around a long time.

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<v Speaker 1>You know. I found this kind of interesting. You've been

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<v Speaker 1>around the entire time I've been following politics. You're still

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<v Speaker 1>on younger than Joe Biden, which is which I find astounding. Um. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it is, it's an astounding fact. Um. But you're an historian.

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<v Speaker 1>Where does the current time we're living in rank I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>with the pandemic, with the economy, with the racial tensions

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<v Speaker 1>and everything like that, it seems to me it's about

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<v Speaker 1>as crazy as anything we've had in our nation's history. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, certainly not be as bad as the Civil War,

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<v Speaker 1>But I think if you take that off, the equation, Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's in the same league with with FDR going

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<v Speaker 1>through the depression in World War Two. Uh, it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>the combination of having a pandemic which the Chinese lied

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<v Speaker 1>about consistently and made it much worse, having the public

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<v Speaker 1>health people say closed everything down. So the government for

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<v Speaker 1>the first time I don't ever remember ever before government's

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<v Speaker 1>deliberately creating a depression, which is what they did. And

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<v Speaker 1>then for a people who are used to being very free,

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<v Speaker 1>telling us all to shut up and stay at home

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<v Speaker 1>and do exactly what your local official tells you. And

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<v Speaker 1>then finally, with with weeks and weeks of of of

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<v Speaker 1>unhappiness and tention building up, you had the tragedy of

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<v Speaker 1>George Floyd getting killed and the way he got killed

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<v Speaker 1>give an eight and a half in a tape of

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<v Speaker 1>people saying you're killing him and then you watch him dying.

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<v Speaker 1>And that led to and you know, that was a

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<v Speaker 1>spark which I think will be seen as historic and

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<v Speaker 1>which led to a lot of different activities, some of

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<v Speaker 1>them totally legitimate and some of them are barbaric and

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<v Speaker 1>totally illegitimate. So when you swirl all that together and

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<v Speaker 1>you combine that with a very left wing news media

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<v Speaker 1>that just hates Trump, um, you really have an interesting

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<v Speaker 1>As a historian, you have a really interesting time. How

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<v Speaker 1>do you feel about this move of journalism. You saw

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<v Speaker 1>what happened with the New York Times, the revolt they

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<v Speaker 1>had in their you know, their editorial section there um

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<v Speaker 1>and they pulled it up, ed from a sitting US

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<v Speaker 1>senator with a reasonable argument he's making. You mentioned the

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<v Speaker 1>left wing media, um that understates it. How does that

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<v Speaker 1>fit in that we don't even have we don't have

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<v Speaker 1>any common news sources we can go to to even

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<v Speaker 1>find out what the stories of the day are. All Right, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think you have to start with the idea these

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<v Speaker 1>are not news media. These are propaganda systems for the left.

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<v Speaker 1>They have no relationship to news media. Uh, And I

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<v Speaker 1>think you really have to start from that perspective. And

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<v Speaker 1>then I think you've got to decide that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you're gonna find ways to learn things on your own,

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<v Speaker 1>but you do you canna expect them to always be

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<v Speaker 1>anti Trump, you know. So, so Trump goes to West

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<v Speaker 1>Point and gave what I thought was one of the

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<v Speaker 1>better speeches of his presidency. The young cadets I think

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<v Speaker 1>paid really careful attention. I think it was a very

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<v Speaker 1>positive day. And immediately the media starts to focus on

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<v Speaker 1>whether or not he walked down this long ramp too

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<v Speaker 1>carefully and was that a sign of age? Now, if

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<v Speaker 1>you watch Donald Trump and you watch Joe Biden, the

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<v Speaker 1>idea that the person you'd worry about being too old

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<v Speaker 1>as Trump is crazy and Trump has the energy of

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<v Speaker 1>a thirty year old. But and he made a very

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<v Speaker 1>clear point. He said, look, there was no handrail. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a slippery surface, and I was wearing leather shoes,

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<v Speaker 1>and I knew if I fell that the eight media

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<v Speaker 1>would go crazy. So yeah, I walked down very carefully.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you're watching, when he gets to the bottom,

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<v Speaker 1>he sort of trots off and he's fine. But they

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<v Speaker 1>were looking for what is it we can use to

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<v Speaker 1>clutter this speech because the speech is too good. And

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<v Speaker 1>if we let the American people see the speech, they

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<v Speaker 1>might get a positive view of Trump. We're talking with

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<v Speaker 1>former speak We're talking with former Speaker of the House

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<v Speaker 1>and a historian and author of many many books. New

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<v Speaker 1>Gingrich ran for president himself. Um, the book is Trump

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<v Speaker 1>in the American Future, Solving the Great Problems of our Time.

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<v Speaker 1>You have Trump in the title, but it seems to

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<v Speaker 1>me the problems of our time, you know, are are

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<v Speaker 1>going to be there. Whether whether Trump is president or not.

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<v Speaker 1>What do you lay out as the problems of our time. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think, first of all, you've got to get the

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<v Speaker 1>economy growing again. Nothing else works if we can't get

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<v Speaker 1>the economy growing again. The second, I think that you

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<v Speaker 1>have to continue to learn how to cope with the virus,

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<v Speaker 1>partly by getting things that are better therapies, partly by

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<v Speaker 1>getting ultimately some kind of vaccine, and by learning how

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<v Speaker 1>to focus on hotspots and surround them and stop them

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<v Speaker 1>before they get before they infect very many people. I

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<v Speaker 1>think third, we have to have a basic argument about

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<v Speaker 1>whether or not this country is not a function. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, when you when you look at how bad

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<v Speaker 1>the schools are and some of our cities. In the Baltimore,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the fourth most expensive city in the country

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<v Speaker 1>for education, there are entire buildings that do not have

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<v Speaker 1>a single student passing the state exam, not one. So

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<v Speaker 1>they're clearly not schools in any traditional sense. And this

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<v Speaker 1>is a crisis because it leaves these kids with no

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<v Speaker 1>usable skills, no ability to survive, they no wonder, they

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<v Speaker 1>feel cheated and frustrated, etcetera. So you know, I think, um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's just it's amazing that we have not been willing

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<v Speaker 1>to come to grips with some of these things. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>I think again we need to come to groups with

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<v Speaker 1>with with a better policing. But that's what I actually believe.

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<v Speaker 1>That probably means more police paid better and with with

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<v Speaker 1>with stricter rules, and probably with every one of them

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<v Speaker 1>having a body camera. Uh. That requires changing the union contracts,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the same problem we have with the big

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<v Speaker 1>city school system. As long as long as you have

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<v Speaker 1>union contracts which protect the incompetent, you're gonna have systems

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<v Speaker 1>that decay. You were Speaker of the House, New Gingrich,

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<v Speaker 1>and um, it was a contentious time, and you and

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<v Speaker 1>Bill Clinton and the battles and that sort of thing.

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<v Speaker 1>But man, it's it seems like everybody loved everybody. To

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<v Speaker 1>compare to today, when you you know, the President will

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<v Speaker 1>call Nancy Pelosi crazy and should call him morbidly obese

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<v Speaker 1>and back and forth. Do you see us ever returning

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<v Speaker 1>to anything even closer to uh, to cooperation and bipartisanship

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<v Speaker 1>anytime soon? Well, when one side wins, and the reason

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<v Speaker 1>is so intense right now is that both sides see

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<v Speaker 1>themselves almost winning and almost being annihilated, and that maximizes

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<v Speaker 1>the pressure and maximizes the emotions that are at stake,

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<v Speaker 1>and so until that gets solved, until one side clearly

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<v Speaker 1>is dominant, it's going to remain that that intense and

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<v Speaker 1>that better. That is fascinating. I'm glad we had you

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<v Speaker 1>on just for that question and answer right there. The

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<v Speaker 1>book is Trump and the American Future, Solving the great

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<v Speaker 1>problems of our time. Smart guy, lots of perspective and

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<v Speaker 1>obviously experienced new gring. Thanks for your time today. Thank

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<v Speaker 1>you enjoyed it. That was interesting. Honestly, that was worth

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<v Speaker 1>the interview for that, and uh reminded me. I've heard

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<v Speaker 1>George will say that too. This will stay as as

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<v Speaker 1>bitter as it is until one side wins, clearly wins.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, it doesn't have to be a pcent

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<v Speaker 1>to nothing. It probably just needs to get to somewhere

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<v Speaker 1>sixty forty, maybe seventy thirty. But then you've got a

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<v Speaker 1>clear you know, leading um uh well side that that's

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<v Speaker 1>that's leading the way on the other side trying to

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<v Speaker 1>uh group back together. But when it's this tight and

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<v Speaker 1>every battle is so close, we're either going to win

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<v Speaker 1>or be annihilated. That's how you end up with, you know, this,

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<v Speaker 1>this knife fight that we're in on every single issue,

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<v Speaker 1>every single day. That's really interesting.