Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that Donald Trump has made Ted Cruz appear normal — and that's going to help the Texas senator win support from the Republican establishment at a contested national convention.
"The challenge is entirely on Trump," Gingrich, who generally supports the New York developer,
told Politico. "He is not gonna get any help out of the establishment.
"They have reluctantly concluded that if, you know — Trump in a funny way has normalized Ted Cruz because without Trump, the establishment would be totally opposed to Cruz," he said.
So far, only Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have endorsed Cruz. He also has the support of two other former presidential rivals, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Graham dropped out of the sweepstakes in December.
Gingrich also told Politico that he doubted whether anyone beyond Trump or Cruz would be nominated in Cleveland because delegate rules make it virtually impossible for anyone not currently running to become the nominee.
"This could end up being, you know, a really right-down-to-the-wire contest between these two guys," he said. "If Trump doesn’t get it, then it will slide to Cruz."
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