There’s a lot you could dissect here. “Second only to Trump” is obligatory when you’re in the MAGA cult, so I choose not to really focus on it. Newt Gingrich is remembered as “the man who broke politics” for what he did in the 90s. While Newt took a sledgehammer to congressional norms and behavior, introducing the right’s new style of scorched earth politics, Bill Clinton expertly navigated that whole entire mess, and actively held the country together during those years. Today, Clinton is remembered as one of the better presidents; Newt is remembered as the man who single-handedly put us on the road to the hellhole we’re in now. Newt knows this, and understands that the public sees him as the bad guy of that era. And now he’s thinking, “man, did it really make sense to simply blow up American politics over [checks notes] Bill Clinton?” I mean, with the way Republicans behaved, or really *didn’t* behave themselves, back in the 90s, you’d have thought *Darializa* was the president! But no. It was Bill Clinton. They blew up American politics over Bill Clinton. Because it’s important to remember that the GOP is not a rational actor. Instead of assessing the situation and realizing that Clinton was the best they were ever gonna get in terms of Democrats who would actually be amenable to some of their political goals, the 90s GOP under Gingrich decided to break American politics. Over Bill fucking Clinton.