Is This Your 2016 GOP Ticket? Trump Insider Says Gingrich Tops the VP List

By Josh Gremillion – Texas State Director – Students for Trump

John Gizzi of Newsmax reports:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is now the leading candidate to be tapped by Donald Trump as his running mate, a close confidante of Trump tells Newsmax.

On Tuesday, Trump told the AP that he has whittled down his choices to 5 or 6 names.

“I have a list of people that I would like,” Trump revealed in his interview Tuesday.

But the name that keeps cropping up as his favorite is Gingrich, a Trump confidante tells Newsmax.

Trump has tapped former presidential contender Ben Carson to help pick his running mate. Carson said Tuesday that he is stepping down from that post to focus on the Thursday meeting between Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump also announced this week that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will head his transition team.

Trump is said to favor Gingrich for several reasons.

First, Trump recognizes he is a Washington neophyte and sees in Gingrich someone who can school him in the legislative process and “make nice” with Capitol Hill.

Trump admitted to the AP he wants a running mate who can help him “with legislation, getting things through.”

As Speaker, Gingrich successfully got Bill Clinton to sign legislation abolishing welfare, while agreeing to budget constraints that led to the first balanced budgets in a generation.

Trump has other reasons he is leaning toward Gingrich. He is said to personally like him. Rubio, Newsmax reported, has already been eliminated though he lobbied through surrogates for the job. Rubio has denied doing so.

Trump also finds Ohio Gov. John Kasich “kind of quirky” and not someone he resonates with, the confidante said.

The pick of Newt Gingrich would no doubt please Trump’s Supporters as he topped a recent twitter poll of preferred VP choices by a large margin. It would be awkward for Trump to pick Kasich after Trump mentioned his eating habits prior to the Indiana Primary.