Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich infamously shut down the federal government in the 1990s -- but even he seems confused about his longtime party's current political machinations.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Gingrich expressed bewilderment at the strategies being employed by rebellious Republicans such as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who have continuously blown up deals to keep the government open.
"I frankly don’t understand it — I think it’s sort of nuts," he said. "There are times people vote yes one day, and then they come back and vote no the next day, and can’t explain why they switched."
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Gingrich also found it baffling that, unlike the operation he ran in the 1990s, the GOP rebels don't seem to have clear ransom demands in exchange for keeping the government open.
"I find it hard to understand what they want, too, because they change constantly — that’s a big part of the problem," he said.
Among other things, rebellious Republicans have demanded a complete halt to military aid to Ukraine and a total defunding of special counsel Jack Smith's criminal prosecutions into former President Donald Trump -- neither of which is politically feasible.
Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, who in the past has championed government shutdowns as a means to extract concessions from Democratic presidents, told the Post that these wild lists of demands have hurt the party's ability to have a coherent message.
"You can’t have seven reasons, and a different one each week, and expect American people to understand what your point was," he told the Post. "In prior fights, there was a focus on why you were doing this. But right now, what would someone watching this on TV be taking away? It’s about too many things, which makes this about nothing."
