Washington (CNN) – Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination on Wednesday, Gingrich's spokesman R.C. Hammond said.
Planning is under way for a joint Romney-Gingrich formal endorsement event to be held in a couple of weeks, Hammond said.
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Gingrich, in his remarks Wednesday, will discuss Romney in the context of "how we need to help defeat Barack Obama and the need to help (House Speaker John) Boehner" maintain Republican control of the House of Representatives, Hammond said.
Hammond said given that Gingrich already has signaled his intention to suspend the campaign and support Romney, "It's not any surprise. It's no surprise where he will go."
Gingrich will be spending most of the summer and fall on the campaign trail stumping for candidates, Hammond said.
Regarding the campaign's debt, which was $4.3 million as of March 31, Hammond said about $500,000 has been retired. Gingrich is expected to address a plan for paying off the rest.
In a phone interview Tuesday night, Gingrich told USA Today he had no regrets about running for president, but, "I have regrets about not being smarter about how to run." He said he wished he had been "bolder" by not relying on consultants and focusing on some of his proposals regarding energy and science. With "more discipline and more courage to be more outside the mainstream, it might have worked better."
Gingrich's campaign experienced a series of ups and downs, from a staff exodus to jumping to the top of the polls in Iowa and then being the target of a bombardment of attacks by Romney and the super PAC supporting him. His strong performances during many of the Republican primary debates helped build support as he tried to sell himself as the bold ideas candidate.
He then made a second comeback, winning the South Carolina primary in January, but could not sustain momentum as he took hits for his proposal for a space colony and questions about his viability led to him being sidelined.
Regarding the man he bitterly criticized during the campaign, Gingrich now offered praise. "Mitt Romney met the first criteria of being a good candidate: He won." He added in the interview: "Now, you have to respect that."
"We sure didn't give it to him. We did everything we could to slug it out with him, and he ended up being tough enough and being good enough at raising money" to win the nomination, Gingrich said.
The Gingrich campaign has not made a decision about whether to release its 141 delegates.
Also see:
Michelle Obama swings West for fundraising push
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He states "by not relying on consultants"...but he himself was a "consultant – why not just accept full responsibility for the campaign not going well? That would have been, I think, a more graceful exit. Either way, his "ideas" simply did not sit well enough to garner sufficient support.
Just GO AWAY !
As usual, a day late and a dollar short...
Clown.
Woohoo, now Romney is the only one standing in the way of a Ron Paul nomination!
did anyone really think this tub had a legitimate chance
the republican party has gone really nutso and hasnt done this country any favors
and some of them are so disliked (cheney one of the most hated men in america and W one of the dumbest people to ever hold office) they are not even seen during this campaign season
Yes, because regardless of how much the President has done for the good of the country it's all about him being a one term president.
Throw the teatard bums OUT IN NOVEMBER!!!
Gingrich called Romney a lair many, many times over the course of the past months. Now he will endorse the "liar" as the only man capable of saving the country from ruin. Ain't politics grand?
Thank you and goodbye!
$4.3 million in debt and sorry for listening to consultants. This sounds just like a candidate for President, or for the House or Senate. Arrogance comes in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Now it's time for this candidate to ride off into the talk circuit sunset, take a post at a major college or university, and try to instill these convoluted values into the next generation of candidates. A vicious circle that will doom our country financially. Where in the definition of conservatism is getting or being in debt?
See ya Newt... it's been a real eye opener. Your whole lack of character, lack of class and total lack of moral standards made me think about what we, as Americans should focus more on. The 15% average you had in the polls was really disturbing, too.
No go away and write a book about this dumbing of America. You can call it "Sometimes Mitt Does Stick".
Poor Newt. What a flailing fool.
Finally! It's about time he gave up!
Oh, heck, Newt was enjoying the attention so much and all the opportunity to talk. And poor Calista won't get to live in the White House. Can he go back to Fox?
Finally! Doesn't he realize he's looked and sounded like a buffoon for months now? This campaign has sealed it for all time to come – Gingrich is mentally unfit to be president (of anything!)
Bet that endorsement won't come cheap! Newt's campaign is deep in debt and his patron billionaire has cut him off. The only thing Newt has left to sell is his endorsement, and Romney needs that endorsement to help pull the party back together.
He is still out there? What is that called? Milking it! Whoever he endorses, I am against.
Great! He'll "briefly" mention Romney, he'll discuss this and that, he'll be with Romney later on, he'll say this, and then this guy will say that... so why bother with your stupid speech? We already know everything about it.