Senior Republican Newt Gingrich hasn't always been a supporter of Donald Trump — or at least his style of campaigning — but he's firmly in his corner now.

And in an interview with CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, Gingrich said the "distortions of the elite media" are largely to blame for Trump's "current reputation" and negative reviews in the race for the U.S. presidency.

"People take him out of context, they distort what he says, then they exaggerate the distortion, then they're horrified at what they've created," Gingrich said.

Just a month ago, Gingrich — who was speaker of the House of Representatives when Bill Clinton was in the White House — said the public saw neither Trump nor Democrat Hillary Clinton as acceptable for the presidency.

But in the weekend interview on Mansbridge: One on One, he said he finds Trump "very acceptable."

"I think he has idiosyncrasies, but they're not abnormal for someone who is a strong entrepreneur," he said.

Listen to the full interview for more on why Gingrich endorses Trump.