“I’m actually very surprised that one of my friends would have said that,” Gingrich said, noting that an actor who appeared with a chimp (Ronald Reagan) became president, as well as a former preanut farmer. “This is a country of enormously wide open talent. You know, Donald Trump is a great showman. He’s also a great businessman…I think that we have to be open to new ways of doing things and new ways of approaching things.”…

Asked why he was taking time to meet with Trump, Gingrich said, “Why wouldn’t you? … I want to pick up on something Herman Cain said awhile back. Sometimes we have to get a certain sense of humor in politics…he is a genuine American icon in his own right.”