The panel discussion on This Week on ABC featured disgraced former House Speaker and resident troll under the bridge, Newt Gingrich, to discuss the upcoming GOP Debate in Cleveland with the behemoth in the room, Donald Trump.
KARL: So, Mr. Speaker, I've got to ask you about Trump. You owned a couple of those debates last time around, what -- how do these Republican candidates going to deal with him on that stage?
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I don't know. I think he's the guy who has the most to win and the most to lose. And I actually think that what Reince described has a certain irony to it. It may well be that the folks who are at the 5:00 debate have a more interesting debate and a greater ability to get their message out. And in the age of social media, if they're all videotaping themselves, they can pick their best lines and get them out to all of their supporters.
It may be -- I'm not saying it will -- but it may be that 9:00 becomes the Trump versus everybody brawl.
(Crosstalk)
GINGRICH: And in some ways, you might be -- you might be happier not to be in the middle of the barroom while the brawl is going on...
Even though the majority of pundits believe the early debate is essentially the 'Loser Debate,' Gingrich thinks it will be more beneficial to those candidates and it may actually be advantageous to be in the earlier debate. Somehow I find it hard to give Gingrich a lot of credit, as he's not exactly the best reader of the American people. He tried to analyze Trump's popularity.
GINGRICH: I -- I think Peggy Noonan did a column yesterday that was very prescient. Something is happening in this country. None of the elites understand it. People are disgusted with the failure of this country to make sense. And people look around and they see the borders are uncontrolled. They see ISIS still existing. They see the mess in Greece. They see all sorts of -- they -- they see Baltimore. They see Ferguson.
KARL: Right.
GINGRICH: And people don't like chaos. People like leadership...
Hopefully the American people are a little more interested in qualified leadership, not blustery bloviation. It remains to be seen if this debate makes any impact in Trump's poll numbers. Much to the dismay of Reince Priebus, this debate may very well help Donald Trump, as most Republicans are looking for a strong leader, not a smart one.
