Newt Gingrich warns America is 'battered, frightened': Americans sense 'our best days are behind us'

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote in a Fox News op-ed that as challenges like inflation and the supply chain disruptions continue to plague America, the new year provides hope and serves as a reminder that change is possible. On "Fox & Friends" Monday, he said America is battered and that people are beginning to sense the country's best days have passed, but that Rep. Kevin McCarthy understands those challenges and has committed to bettering the nation.

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NEWT GINGRICH: We have to face the reality here. This isn't 2016. This isn't a country which is basically comfortable but angry. This is a country which is battered, frightened. For the first time, Americans have a really deep sense that our best days are behind us. Well, we're very intimidated by the scale of the Chinese challenge. And as I said, we have mental health problems on a scale we have never seen, largely compounded by the worst public health decisions, I think, in modern history. All of which deserves to be explored. 

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But people want political leadership which is going to be serious, have an honest conversation and find a way to bring us together to actually fix these things. Not just have more of this totally partisan bickering. And I think Kevin McCarthy, with his whole notion of a commitment to America and the kind of people he's been recruiting, I think he understands this is a time for taking very seriously the challenges that the United States faces and that we face as individuals.

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