Newt Gingrich: Mitt Romney represents 'fossilized' version of GOP

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Reaction and analysis from Fox News contributor and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on Monday seemed to downplay a recent report that Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, would take a stand against President Trump should the impeachment inquiry advance to the second chamber of Congress for a vote.

Gingrich, who competed against Romney in 2012 for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle that Romney doesn’t have much influence in the Senate given he represents “the old order,” or pre-Trump era, of the GOP.

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“The truth is I don’t pay attention to Mitt Romney. I don’t think Mitt Romney matters in the long run of American political history,” Gingrich told Fox News Host Laura Ingraham. “He certainly does not matter in a Donald Trump Republican Party. I think he is a fossilized element of a party that is disappearing.”

Gingrich made the remarks in reaction to a piece published in The Atlantic Sunday titled “The Liberation of Mitt Romney.” The story detailed how the seasoned Utah senator now considers himself free of party constraints and instead, if necessary to secure his legacy, would consider a vote in favor of impeaching Trump.

“I don’t think Mitt’s been in jail so I don’t know what he’s being liberated from,” Gingrich said. “In the end I have a hunch that Romney will be careful about all this, and I’d be a little surprised if he didn’t in the end vote against conviction if in fact it does come to the Senate.”

Ingraham also pointed to Romney’s recent address on the Senate floor rebuking the United States’ intervention, or lack thereof, in the conflict in Syria. Romney, who once sought to become Secretary of State, said “What we have done to the Kurds will stand as a bloodstain on the annals of American history.”

Gingrich said that remark was a “fairly ignorant comment about Turkey. Turkey is a fairly large country with a fairly large military. Our major airbase in the region is in Turkey. Anybody who’s suggesting that you can just shrug off Turkey doesn’t understand anything about the power structure of the Middle East.”

Gingrich wrapped his appearance by comparing football to recent "fumbles" made by White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney—first in a press briefing and then in an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace—about whether Trump’s notorious call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky proved quid pro quo.

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“Last week for the first time in the 100 year history of the Packers, Aaron Rogers had a perfect game. There’s a lot to learn from not throwing interceptions and not fumbling,” Gingrich said. “And, I think the White House could slow down a little bit and give us a couple weeks of error free ball.”