Trump Teams Up with Newt for New Contract With America
Acid wash jeans, scrunchies, and... Newt Gingrich. Fashion from the '90s is having a comeback, and so too is the '90s Republican playbook for how to win back congressional majorities.
With an eye toward winning back the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections, former President Donald Trump has begun crafting a policy agenda outlining a MAGA doctrine for the party. His template is the 1994 "Contract with America," a legislative agenda released ahead of the midterm elections in the middle of President Bill Clinton’s first term. And, as a cherry on top, he’s teaming up with its main architect — Gingrich — to do it.
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Detailed policy planks have never been the most notable feature of Trump’s political appeal, nor has he regularly followed through on promised policy initiatives. So it remains to be seen just how comprehensive the updated Contract will be, if one is issued at all. Gingrich, who wrote the "Contract with America" along with former congressman Dick Armey, said it shouldn’t be expected to debut “anytime soon.” But when asked about what should be included in a 2022 Republican agenda, Gingrich outlined a list of potential priorities.
“It should be positive,” Gingrich said. “School choice, teaching American history for real, abolishing the ‘1619 Project,’ eliminating critical race theory and what the Texas legislature is doing. We should say, ‘Bring it on.’”
Gingrich said it shouldn’t be expected until closer to the midterm elections because “the world keeps changing and evolving.”
The original "Contract with America" was credited with helping Republicans gain their first majority in four decades after the party picked up 52 seats in 1994 in the House and nine seats in the Senate. Republicans have used it as a template in elections since. In 2010, the so-called Republican “Young Guns,” led by Reps. Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, introduced a much longer version of Gingrich’s contract with a 224-page publication outlining policy goals ahead of the midterm elections. And Graham, who was one of the Contract’s signatories when he first ran for a House seat in 1994, has frequently advocated for Republicans to adopt contract-style declarations to unify the party during election years.
Since leaving the White House, Trump has mostly focused on the past — airing his grievances about the 2020 election, comparing cable television ratings from his time in office to now, calling for public credit for his administration’s work on the vaccines and attacking Republicans who voted for his impeachment following the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill. He has made few public appearances, and in closed door speeches, donors say he continues to focus on his complaints about the last election.