For months, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (shown) has been positioned by Fox TV as Donald Trump’s main defender and supporter, and now he is the top choice of the virulently anti-Trump neoconservative establishment to be Trump’s vice president. However, Gingrich says he has not been formally approached by Trump on the matter. “You should never turn down an opportunity until it shows up,” said Gingrich said during an appearance in Chicago on Friday.

“Why would I want to say ‘no’ to the circus? I like circuses,” Gingrich added, according to the Chicago Tribune. The ex-speaker’s name has been bandied about as a top consideration for Trump’s VP pick for the past couple of weeks, appearing on several speculative “short lists” in stories from the establishment media, ranging from the New York Times to National Review.Among the important stories to float the Gingrich-as-VP idea is an article in National Review by Myra Adams on May 4 entitled “A Trump-Gingrich Ticket: Brilliant or Crazy?”

“Gingrich is media savvy and a mega fundraising asset,” writes Adams. “He is good on the campaign trail and could solidify support among conservatives,” she insists, even though conservative voters have repeatedly rejected him. But the key part of the message from National Review (aka Neocon Central) is this: “Most important, Gingrich legitimizes Trump’s candidacy and would refine Trump’s somewhat unartful domestic and foreign-policy positions.” Yes, according to National Review, a principal conduit for channeling globalist bilge to conservatives from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Gingrich would “legitimize” Trump.

Moreover, says Adams: “A Trump-Gingrich ticket would send a strong signal that ‘Make America Great Again’ is not just a campaign slogan but the theme for a new Republican Revolution — with Newt Gingrich as its chief strategist.”

A more reliable (and honest) analyst would point out that Gingrich is considered toxic by a significant number of genuine and informed conservative Republicans because they remember he was the “chief strategist” for the “Republican Revolution” that ratified much of President Bill Clinton’s Big Government revolution, in particular NAFTA, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and illegal alien amnesty. Gingrich and his liberal-left, internationalist supporters, however, know that most voters will not remember Gingrich’s record, but will be mesmerized by his rhetoric. The always glib and glabrous Gingrich has reinvented himself more often than rock diva Madonna and more radically than Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner. He moves back and forth with seamless ease across the political spectrum and across bipartisan lines, denouncing liberal Democrats on the one hand (to the glee of conservative Republicans) while simultaneously on the other hand working with Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore, Barack Obama, Al Sharpton, Howard Dean, and others of the same ilk, helping promote their Big Government agendas.

“Trump needs a VP who will sing from the same hymn book he does on the campaign trail, pacify conservatives and can pull the right levers of power in D.C. to get things done once in office,” Ford O’Connell, former campaign advisor to 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, told Bloomberg News. “Gingrich, without question, fits that bill.”

Indeed he does “fit the bill” of one who can “pull the levers of power” and sing the tunes necessary to “pacify conservatives.” And it is telling that a prominent advisor to McCain, one of the most “progressive” Republicans in Congress, views him so highly.

A big part of Gingrich’s cachet with the progressive internationalist set stems from his longtime service to the Council on Foreign Relations. He was a CFR member for two and a half decades (1990-2014) and he has given no evidence to suggest that his recent lapse in formal membership signifies any break with the group’s globalist objectives. More likely, it betokens a conscious effort on his part to “pacify conservatives” and camouflage his continuing one-world orientation.

Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Fox News empire and the Wall Street Journal (and a CFR member and “free trade” neocon globalist), has lavishly promoted Gingrich on his broadcast and print platforms, giving the former House speaker the attention and relevance he craves as well as the faux credibility and name recognition he needs to continue marketing himself as a viable political force.

Gingrich, who has cagily been campaigning for the No. 2 executive spot on Team Trump for months, has said it would be his patriotic duty to consider being Trump’s running mate, if the job were offered to him. “If a potential president says I need you, it would be very hard for a patriotic citizen to say no,” he said, according to the New York Times. “People can criticize a nominee, but ultimately there are very few examples of people turning down the vice presidency.”

According to reports from some news organizations, Trump’s official VP search team has narrowed down the VP candidate field to several possible picks, and Gingrich figures prominently on all the reported “short lists.” Some of the other names that pop up as possible Trump running mates: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin — and others.

Helping lead the search effort was Dr. Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has endorsed Trump since dropping out of the presidential race himself. Bloomberg and other news groups have reported that Carson recommended Gingrich for the slot, but those stories rely on unnamed sources, and Carson has not been directly quoted endorsing Gingrich for the position.

As Gingrich continues his clawing and slithering campaign back to the “levers of power” — with the indispensable assistance of Murdoch’s Fox News and the neocon echo chambers at National Review and the Weekly Standard — prudent conservative voters will be scrutinizing his record to discover the real Newt Gingrich. The links to the related videos and articles listed below are an excellent starting point.

Photo: Newt Gingrich with third (and current) wife and business partner, Calista Bisek Gingrich 

Newt Gingrich: The Establishment’s Conservative

“Party Unification” Touted Following Trump-Ryan Meeting

An Honest Look at Newt Gingrich

Newt’s Contract with the Earth: Pseudo-Science, Big Government

The Real Newt Gingrich (DVD)

The Real Newt Gingrich (VIDEO)

(The New American never endorses candidates. Our purpose is to inform the electorate and enable them to draw their own conclusions.)