They're as different as night and day — one a Revolutionary War hero nicknamed "Old Hickory, the other a billionaire TV star dubbed "The Donald" — but Newt Gingrich says Andrew Jackson and Donald Trump have some striking similarities.
Asked by
the Washington Post if there is an historical analog to Trump in terms of his personality or rhetoric, the former Republican House Speaker named Jackson, who, following his military service was elected the nation's seventh president.
"Andrew Jackson represented a farmer-frontier-worker rebellion against the eastern establishment who had maintained control for over a generation," said Gingrich, who ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
"The elites disliked him so much he got bad press for a century until [Arthur] Schlesinger's 'The Age of Jackson' rehabilitated him."
Gingrich said a similar argument could be made for other GOP presidential candidates being general outsiders — Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
Newt Gingrich told The Post Trump's huge popularity comes from a combination of concerns Americans have.
"[The] deep conservative and working class anger at President Obama, the collapse of government — Katrina, the veterans administration, the border, inner city schools, etc.," he said.
As well, "the worst economy for male high school educated workers since the Great Depression, the continuous and growing threat of terrorism and a sense that the Republican leadership couldn't solve things reinforced by the rise of 24/7 news and social media for Trump to dominate."
Trump, Gingrich added, "couldn't have [had such a meteoric rise] four or eight years ago … If Trump keeps learning he could become a big asset. He will shatter the traditional patterns."
Gingrich said the wild and unpredictable 2016 presidential election has been "good for America."
"This is as smart a team of candidates as we have fielded in my lifetime. They are raising important issues. The uncertainty is attracting the attention of millions of Americans," he said.
"We will be a stronger party for having a woman CEO, an African American brain surgeon [and] two Latinos campaigning with two 44-year-old presidential candidates — and in Paul Ryan, the youngest Speaker since 1869.
"The Republicans are becoming the party of youth, diversity and creativity."
But Gingrich hedged when The Post asked who he believes is the strongest GOP candidate to take on former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
"The one we nominate," Gingrich answered.
"By definition the person who learns enough to become the nominee is almost certainly the best person for the general election."