Karl Rove: Newt Gingrich Would 'Kill or Die' to be Trump's VP

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich would "kill or die" to become Donald Trump's vice-president, GOP strategist and Fox News contributor Karl Rove said Monday.

"I had to deal with Newt when I was at the White House at a lower level, and he clearly would love to be a player inside any Republican administration," Rove, a deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to former President George W. Bush, told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program.

"The vice president has a regular weekly lunch with the president and sits in on main policy issues and is able to opine."

Gingrich has been a fan of Trump's for a long time, said Rove, and is an "insider who knows how Congress works," pointing out that Trump has commented that in "'one way, shape, or form, Newt Gingrich is going to be part of my administration.'"

And whether that means Gingrich is vice president or serves in another role, "Newt has an idea a minute and it will be interesting to see how Trump responds to that. I'm sure he already has gotten a sense of it," said Rove.

Over the weekend, the name of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn came up as a potential running mate for Trump, and Rove said there's not much known about Flynn "except one thing: He's an ardent opponent of Islamic extremism. He was in the Joint Special Operations Command. He was the guy leading the evident to find the major players in al-Qaida and take them out."

But it would be "odd" for Trump to pick a Democrat like Flynn, as the last time either party had a vice president of the opposite party was back in 1864, when Abraham Lincoln chose a Democrat, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, as his running-mate. So this will be a little unusual. And yes, "his views expressed on abortion will cause a kerfuffle among the largely pro-life members of the convention."

Meanwhile, there are other reports that say Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will become Trump's running mate. Pence is ending his first term as governor of Indiana, Rove said, but he's still an outsider.

"We have three things going on," said Rove. "Trump has to figure out: Does he want a general or a Washington insider? Does he want an outsider? Does he want somebody with legislative experience?"

There are also many other choices, said Rove, over whether Trump wants someone who is close to him on extremism and other issues, and whether he wants an "attack dog . . . This will come down at the end to personal chemistry."

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