President-elect Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer. D-N.Y., are playing a political "game" of cat and mouse publicly — which right now is in "the name-calling phase" — because Schumer is "talking tough to prove he's loyal" to Democrats, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said.
"Right now they’re in the name-calling phase," Gingrich told host John Catsimatidis on Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable." "But I think that’s because Schumer is having to be nice to his base, and they all want to go fight Trump. They sort of told him that if he’s going to be their leader, he’s got to lead them in fighting."
Schumer has known Trump for a very long time, but both men are mature and professional and will ultimately work together, which is contrast to a "hopeless" House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., where there is not "any circumstance where we’re going to get very much out of her," Gingrich told Catsimatidis.
The public war of words reached it crescendo this week with Trump calling out "Schumer clowns" on Twitter.
"He and Trump will ultimately get some deals done, but Schumer, first, has to convince his base and his activists that they can rely on him to fight, because otherwise they will just go crazy," Gingrich continued. "[Schumer's] on a very short leash right now, because they are so hostile at every level. The left is so hostile to Trump that you couldn't just dive in and be something without having an ability to prove to them that you're loyal.
"So, he's talking tough to prove he's loyal."
Trump is talking tough back because that is who he is — and "this is all new to him" — but "candidate Trump is going to turn into a very successful President Trump" by evolving his relationship with Schumer, the leader of Trump's opposition, Gingrich added.
"They both know what's going on; they both understand that this is a game they're playing," Gingrich concluded.