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Newt Gingrich has also undertaken the role of peacemaker between Trump and the Washington establishment. | AP Newt: Romney speech ‘vitriolic and nasty'

Newt Gingrich on Monday blasted Mitt Romney's speech denouncing Donald Trump as "vitriolic and nasty," calling it a sure indicator that the 2012 Republican nominee would never be accepted as a consensus party choice at a hypothetical contested convention this summer in Cleveland.

“I think if Mitt had really wanted to maneuver for the nomination, he wouldn’t have given the speech he gave last week," the former speaker of the House told "Fox and Friends." "Because that speech was so harsh and so intense that it virtually guaranteed that I think both for the Trump people but also for a lot of the Cruz people, that Romney would just plain be unacceptable."

The speech "may have been courageous on his part — it’s certainly what he, I think, believes," said Gingrich, who has made a series of recent complimentary remarks (and tweets) about Trump. "But it was such a vitriolic and nasty speech that it guaranteed that they guy who currently has the most votes and most momentum would never accept Romney as sort of the draft at the convention.”

Trump was right to skip CPAC. The votes are in Kansas not Washington. Why give the anti-trump activists a target — Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) March 4, 2016





Trump's shift toward inclusiveness, team effort and unity was vitally important He has to build a Reagan like inclusiveness to win this fall — Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) March 2, 2016





Any media effort to suggest Trump has not disavowed David Duke is just wrong. He has clearly disavowed the racist. News media should move on — Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) February 28, 2016





Gingrich has also undertaken the role of peacemaker between Trump and the Washington establishment, telling The Daily Beast last week that the hour for party unity is approaching.

“Newt has been on the Hill sharing his views on how Congress could work with a Trump administration,” an aide to GOP leadership told The Daily Beast in the article published last Friday. “Gingrich is trying to legitimize Trump while Mitt Romney and others are out there saying he’s terrible. Gingrich is saying that Trump’s positions are valid — he’s trying to add legitimacy to Trump while everyone else is doing the opposite.”

