Newt Gingrich to Fox News: You ‘Invented’ Donald Trump

Newt Gingrich is known for speaking his mind, often bluntly and without regards to politeness. That personality trait came in handy Monday on Fox & Friends, when the former House speaker told the right-leaning gabfest’s hosts they “invented” the Donald Trump candidacy.

Starting in early 2011, Donald Trump appeared on Fox & Friends every Monday morning for an appropriately titled segment: “Mondays With Trump.” When the relationship between the reality TV star and the morning talk show came under scrutiny, upon Trump’s entrance into the presidential race, the cable news network axed the segment.

After Steve Doocy proclaimed Monday that the “establishment” GOP is “uncomfortable” with Trump, his co-host Brian Kilmeade added: “The billionaire is spending the least amount of money and running away with this thing.”

And that’s when Gingrich got real.

“Well, that’s because of you guys,” he asserted in the clip first spotted by Media Matters. “Donald Trump gets up in the morning, tweets to the entire planet at no cost, picks up the phone, calls you, has a great conversation for about eight minutes, which would have cost him a ton in commercial money, and meanwhile his opponents are all out there trying to raise the money to run an ad.”

Clearly vexed by Gingrich’s suggestion, Kilmeade fired back that “people make decisions”—i.e., Trump got all that free airtime because “from day one he made himself available to big and small [outlets].” Meanwhile, the Fox host said, past and present candidates like Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Hillary Clinton haven’t readily made media appearances.

But Newt was not backing down. “Look, you could say that Trump is the candidate Fox & Friends invented,” he fired back. “He was on your show I think more than any other show.”

“Every Monday,” Doocy helpfully added.

“It was always a happy, positive conversation,” Gingrich noted, driving the point home.