Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to Donald Trump’s defense many times throughout this election cycle. But the billionaire’s recent attacks against Ted Cruz’s wife is a bridge too far, Gingrich said Monday night.
“For Trump to get sucked into this at a personal level, tweeting about or repeating a tweet, technically, about Mrs. Cruz is just utterly stupid,” the 2012 presidential candidate told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“And it has frankly weakened everything that Trump ought to be strengthening,” Gingrich said, noting that such attacks have “sent a signal to women that is negative at a time when [Trump’s] numbers with the women are already bad.
“It sent a signal of instability to people who are beginning to say, ‘OK, maybe I’ve gotta get used to it, maybe I’ve gotta rely on him, maybe he could be presidential,’ and frankly, it energized Cruz,” he added.
With Wisconsin’s April 5 primary around the corner, Gingrich said Trump’s recent behavior may have “really hurt him” and could hand Cruz a victory in the Badger State. He encouraged the New York businessman and his campaign to “reassess” their strategy.
“I’m not sure anybody in the Trump campaign understands yet what a big mistake this is, and they can’t keep doing this stuff and think they’re going to get the nomination,” Gingrich said
Trump has avoided attacking Cruz’s wife, Heidi, since he first threatened to “spill the beans” on her last week. Yet he’s recently refused to dismiss unsourced tabloid reports accusing Cruz of extramarital affairs.
The two candidates will be campaigning in Wisconsin today, where they are running neck-and-neck a week before the primary.
