Newt Gingrich: Pelosi is 'whacked,' 'deeply out of touch' if she attacks Trump on the economy

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Newt Gingrich: Nancy Pelosi attacking economy shows she is 'whacked'

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told 'America's Newsroom' that attacking Trump on the economy is like running headfirst into a granite mountain.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's new initiative to attack President Trump on the economy shows just how "out of touch with reality" she is, the former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Wednesday.

Appearing on "America's Newsroom" with host Ed Henry, Gingrich said that he was surprised by reports she would pivot to that approach because of the Trump administration's economic successes, including record-low unemployment numbers, strong wage growth, and an influx of jobs created.

In what the administration has touted as a "blue-collar boom," in January the country added 225,000 new jobs and wage growth remained at 3.1 percent. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6 percent, but the rate continues to hover near a 50-year low.

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"This is like picking a granite mountain and running into it with your head," Gingrich said.

"They could have a good fight on health care. That makes some sense. They could have a good fight on education reform," he continued. "But, to go after President Trump in what has been a remarkable period where...something like 65 percent of all Americans feel like they have more money, they are better off. To run in and say to them, 'No, you're too stupid to understand how bad the economy is' doesn't strike me as very good salesmanship."

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The pressure for Democrats to get their message right on the economy comes as the president advances his efforts during the throes of his re-election campaign with the highest approval ratings at any time of his presidency.

After the president's acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial, Pelosi has all but explicitly told her fellow party members that it's time to shift their focus ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Additionally, Politico reported Tuesday that Pelosi hosted a special speaker's meeting with a top Obama-era economics adviser to explain to Democrats why the economy isn't actually as strong as the president is claiming and how they can use that ahead of the November election.

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Gingrich, however, says Pelosi is "whacked" if the thinks the economy is the way to go after Trump.

"Anybody who thinks tearing up the State of the Union is clever I think is really deeply out of touch with reality and this new attack on the economy will be the same," he concluded.