Newt Gingrich has suggested that Donald Trump can turn his campaign around by adopting Richard Nixon’s 1972 election strategy. That was the year of the Watergate break-in.
In an extensive new report, Politico outlines how the President’s usual tactics don’t seem to be working against former Vice President Joe Biden. The article explains Gingrich’s thinking.
He was Republican Speaker of the House in the 1990s and is seen as a party grandee.
“Trump, in his view, is still using Nixon’s strategy of 1968, when he was an outsider, but he needed to adopt Nixon’s strategy of 1972, when he was the incumbent president running for reelection,” Politico explains.
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“It’s not a great analogy because Nixon benefited from a good economy. But the gist is for Trump to stop emphasizing that the country is in chaos. ”
Lots of fun stuff in this @RyanLizza story but I'm stuck on Gingrich's revelation that Trump should "adopt Nixon's strategy from 1972." You know – embracing China, counting on Ds to nominate far-left candidate, doing crimes that bring down your presidency https://t.co/bXsLt34zut
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) August 4, 2020
Though Nixon won reelection in 1972, the events of that year would eventually end his presidency. Gingrich clearly isn’t encouraging Trump to commit impeachable offenses but the comparison is remarkable.
Gingrich also said that Trump’s usual playbook isn’t working anymore.
“I think it took several months to realize that all the tools that worked brilliantly for four years were not in tune with where the country was,” he said.
He also commented on dropping campaign manager Brad Parscale, saying he “always thought it was very likely.”
However, Parscale was reportedly demoted after sparsely attended Trump events – some of which may have been a consequence of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media
