“That was a very deliberate reopening of the same conversation,” Gingrich said in an interview Thursday. “He has concluded that you guys in the media will kill him unless he destroys your credibility. Guaranteeing that the media is not believable is a significant building block of this campaign, as important as showing that Hillary Clinton is corrupt.”

The moment was a telling sign of how the two align, especially when it comes to how to respond to controversy. It also captured the bond between Gingrich and Trump, two consummate insiders who see themselves as outsiders, if not loners, and who see themselves as have never been fully embraced by “the elites,” whether in Washington or on Wall Street.

That mutual sensibility has elevated Gingrich to Trump’s shortlist to become his running mate. If picked, Gingrich would function not only as a seasoned hand at Trump’s side but also as his alter ego: a combative, populist-sounding politician who relishes clashes with the media and tearing into presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.