Newt Gingrich | Fox News Channel's Hannity | Oct 25

NEWT:

Well, I mean, first of all, it's horrible. And I think that we're going to have to really think through a better method of protecting people. Frankly, in states that have concealed carry and other permits, constitutional carry permits you have a much more rapid response to these kind of people who are crazy. And we have no idea what this person's motivation was. But I think we have to assume as we move forward the people and by the way, this also applies to what happened in Israel when Hamas attacked. We have to have a greater ability for our citizens to protect themselves because it's clear the law enforcement comes in after the massacre. But law enforcement is almost never there to stop the massacre. This has been true in Europe, has been true here. It's been true in Israel. So I think we have to think about a whole new strategy because these kind of people are extraordinarily dangerous, are willing to kill others, have no sense of decency. And frankly, you have to stop them as early as possible to minimize the loss of individual lives.

NEWT:

Well, Callista and I were both really impressed with how solid he is. I mentioned to you on your radio show earlier that we found out today that he and Callista both follow each other on Facebook. So that gives him some points with us. But I thought he is a very solid person. He has very solid values. He's deeply religious. He has a great family. And I think that we're going to discover that what he combines, which is really very important, is a solid conservative set of principles with a very moderate and reasonable approach to people so that he can actually unify people across ideological boundaries. I'm really looking forward to seeing how he works, because what he said today was almost perfect. He wants the committee chairman to play bigger roles. He wants to decentralize so every member has a greater role to play. He sees himself. I think, as the coordinator of the whole house, not as a person who's going to dominate the house. And he's very, very smart. Everyone I've talked to today who knows him well is really impressed with his integrity, his philosophy and how smart he is.

NEWT:

Well, I think what you're going to find is, first of all, Speaker Johnson understands that. He referred to it today. He understands from his many friends back in Shreveport that life is hard, that this isn't about the Washington lobbyists, the Washington bureaucrats, the billionaires. This is about everyday folks in Shreveport, Louisiana. And I think, as I saw Steve Scalise today was delighted to be introducing the Louisiana speaker of the House. I think you're going to see that Mike Johnson is going to, in fact, focus. He’s going to focus on the human elements of how do we help real people, whether it's gasoline prices, grocery prices, bringing down the cost of living, bringing down the inflation rate, getting back to a reasonable mortgage level. And I can tell you right now that the Republican Budget Committee members have produced a ten year roadmap to get to a balanced budget in the next decade. And I think if the new speaker will work with that committee, he can create a framework within which the country will become much healthier very, very rapidly. And I agree with you, by the way. They're going to have to be real collisions with a very left wing and incompetent Biden administration and with a relatively left wing Senate. And by the way, remember, I looked at this this evening and Callista and I were talking about this he's so interested in how he's doing. This guy is 51. Now, that means that the head of the Senate, the head of the Senate Republicans and the president are all a generation older than he is. And I think that level of energy and youth and family orientation with his four children, I think all that's going to play very well in the country. And I think that if he does truly distribute power to the committee chairs and allow the members to talk among themselves. You're going to find that he could potentially do a remarkable job over the next year and a half.