Newt Gingrich rebuked Mitt Romney's recent drive to undercut Donald Trump's presidential campaign, calling his efforts "pathetic."
In an interview with
The Wall Street Journal, Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker, said, "It's pathetic… I don't know what happened to Mitt, but it is weird; it is bizarre.
"Having a guy like that go berserk in public makes you wonder what his problems are," Gingrich said.
Romney won the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, in a race where Gingrich also competed.
In March,
the Journal reported that Romney critiqued Trump
during a speech.
"If we, as Republicans, choose Donald Trump as our nominee, our prospects for a safe, prosperous future are greatly diminished," Romney said. "Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud."
According to the Journal, Gingrich said Romney's efforts were "not particularly effective," and "objectively it has not hurt Trump." He then said he expected Trump would carry Utah, Romney's home state.
Gingrich has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Trump. He said one of the reasons Trump has succeeded is because "he is willing to be politically incorrect."
This is not the first time Gingrich has been critical of Romney. In 2012,
CBS News compiled a list of the "ten nastiest things" Gingrich said about Romney, including saying Romney's comments were "pious baloney."