CLEVELAND — As the effort among delegates to nominate an alternative to Donald Trump contentiously fizzled at the convention, Republican figures who spoke to WND, including former supporters of rival candidates, nevertheless expressed optimism that the party will unify around the real estate billionaire.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been critical of Trump at times, including in June when he said it was “inexcusable” for Trump to claim that the judge in the lawsuits against Trump University is biased because he parents were born in Mexico.

But Gingrich, believed to be among Trump’s final three choices for vice presidential nominee, told WND the opposition to Trump among Republicans is disappearing.

TRENDING: Alan Dershowitz sues CNN to halt 'malicious' attacks on innocent people

“I think you still have a group of bitter-enders, but I think they’re decaying,” he said. “There will be fewer and fewer, and after Philadelphia (the Democratic National Convention), they will be mostly gone.”

Trump, he emphasized, is a genuine outsider.

“He shocked everybody, and so you have some people who are not used to the idea that you’re allowed to just win without spending 20-25 years in the party,” said Gingrich.

Order your copy of No. 1 New York Times best-selling author Jerome Corsi's newest blockbuster, "Partners in Crime: The Clinton's Scheme to Monetize the White House for Personal Profit," now in stock – weeks ahead of the official Aug. 2, 2016 release date – only at the WND Superstore!

How does he think “never Trumpers” can be brought on board?

“You keep showing them pictures of Hillary.”

Former Sen. Al D’Amato of New York, a delegate to the 2016 convention, supported Ohio Gov. John Kasich but now is fully behind Trump.

He described “never Trumpers” as “basically a bunch of miscontents, malcontents who didn’t get their way, people who don’t really understand politics unless they’re winning.”

“You know, it’s great when you win. Then everybody gets around you, but when you lose, who forgets their pledge?” D’Amato told WND.

He was referring to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, thought to be original the establishment choice for the GOP nomination, who signed a pledge that he would support the winning candidate.

“Why? Because he thought he was going to win. He didn’t win. So he walks away,” D’Amato said.

“Mr. Kasich, who I supported, he said he’d support the winning candidate. He didn’t win. He forgot his pledge.

“Shame on them.”

D’Amato said it comes down to a binary choice.

“Do you want four more years of Obama, or do you want to have a change, and to stand up and fight for those principles that are important?” he said. “The protection of our homeland. Seeing to it that we have secure borders. Seeing to it that our allies know that we keep our word and our commitments, and that our enemies know the same thing.”

Will he be an enthusiastic campaigner for Trump?

“Absolutely. And I’m deeply disappointed in John,” he said.

Kasich not only skipped the convention, he held a gathering of 2,000 Ohio Republicans Tuesday night in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, only about one mile away from the convention site.

’This is not hard for me’

Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, who served as a foreign policy adviser for Cruz's campaign, told WND that party unity is a work in progress.

“I think we’ve made some,” he said, “but there’s a lot more to do.

“Look, there’s no doubt about it. It was a contentious process, and a lot of people have things to still work out,” he said.

“But I think, ultimately, the focus on the consequence of electing Hillary Clinton will be the most powerful unifying factor of all, and we need it,” he said. “We need a well-unified party going into the election, not just for the presidential race, but also for the Senate and House races, too.”

At a CNN town hall in February, Cruz said “a secretary of state in a Cruz administration would be someone like John Bolton, would be someone who is strong, who defends this country, who stands our by our allies and stand up to our enemies.”

Can Bolton enthusiastically promote Trump?

“Yeah, look, Hillary and her husband were a year ahead of me in law school, so I’ve been burdened with them 20 years longer than the rest of the country,” he replied.

“This is not hard for me.”

’Heavy-handedness’

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who supported Cruz in the primaries, told WND he was happy that Trump not only sat down with the Texas senator one-on-one but also invited him to speak at the convention.

But he was disappointed in how the leadership handled an attempt by a coalition of delegates against Trump to force a roll call vote on the rules package for the convention, which binds delegates to candidates based on their state party rules.

The delegates shouted for a vote, and a voice vote was called. The "nays" apparently were as loud as the "yeas," but Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., who was presiding over the floor, determined the "yeas" prevailed.

On Tuesday night, the delegates from Trump's state of New York officially put him over the top.

“I thought we were headed in the right direction,” Gohmert said regarding party unity. “I knew there were a lot of people saying, if they’ve got their roll call, and it turned out that they lost, then they would have to turn around and support Trump.

“But the heavy-handedness that kept that vote from becoming a roll call seemed like it was so unfair, so unnecessary,” he said.

"Now, I was hearing some people [Tuesday] say, ‘I can’t support what happened, that it was so totally unnecessary,’” he said.

‘Not an option’

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, agreed that Clinton is helping unify Republicans.

“As people focus on Hillary, it becomes increasingly clear how dangerous she is and how damaging she would be as president, because she would build on Obama’s misuse of the executive branch,” Norquist told WND.

“So, step one is just to recognize that that is not an option,” said Norquist, who is known for his no-tax pledge for candidates.

Norquist said he likes Trump’s tax plan and his focus on lifting the the regulatory burden.

“On the big ticket issue, which is getting the economy moving again, which allows him to do a lot of other things, he’s on the right side,” Norquist said.

Asked if he was concerned that Trump might not stick with the plan, Norquist said, “You always worry about any elected official changing their mind, and it’s our job as activists to put up a guard rail that makes it difficult or impossible to go off the beaten path of Reagan Republicanism.”

He said the defense is the Republican majority in the House, which he described as “very conservative,” and in the Senate, “the most conservative Senate we’ve ever had.”

Norquist said that supporters of Cruz and Kasich who have opposed Trump or are wary of him can at least work on electing a Republican Congress that will keep him in check.

“There’s plenty to do,” he said. “These guys who sit down at a life-and-death election -- House, Senate, presidency, governors, state legislatures -- and they sit down on the sofa and don’t do anything, ‘Well, I’m protesting Trump.’ No you’re not. That’s not work. You’re just being lazy.

“Get out there and elect Republicans. You don’t have to spend your time on Trump if you don’t think he’s listening to you,” he said. “But pick a senator. Pick a governor.”

He warned that the Republicans who actively undermined Barry Goldwater in 1964 “were never ever rehabilitated.”

“All of those liberal Republican governors who didn’t endorse him, they never went on to greatness,” Norquist said. “So, I think it’s unwise. I mean if someone is ‘never Trump,’ I think they ought to be saying, ‘Don’t mention Trump, elect a Republican congressman. Don’t mention Trump, elect a Republican senator.’ They would be a buttress against whatever you fear Trump would do wrong.”

'In the graces of the people’

Bob Lawrence, who has been a paid consultant for Trump for about 10 years, said there will be a few party “holdbacks,” such as Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush, but he believes Trump “is firmly in the graces of the American people.”

“With his wife speaking (Monday) night, I think she’s going to become America’s sweetheart. Let’s face it. I mean she’s fantastic. Her speech to me was so important. But the media, they just don’t get it,” he said, referring to the controversy over similarities to Michelle Obama 2008 convention speech.

Importantly, he said, Hillary Clinton was nowhere to be found Tuesday morning.

“Trump has now successfully controlled the media again,” Lawrence said.

Asked what Trump is doing to win over leaders in Congress, Lawrence said he believes the situation is reversed.

“I think these important leaders had better win over Donald Trump,” he said. “Trump doesn’t go to them. They have to come to Trump. And he’s in the driver’s seat now.

“By the end of the convention it’s going to be amazing when you see this flux of people going toward Trump,” said Lawrence.

“I’m just amazed by the people that I know who are high up in the Republican Party that are now loving this guy, and six months ago they called him every name in the book.”