For the past day, rumors (and published reports) that Donald Trump would be endorsing Newt Gingrich today were coming fast and furious. This morning, the first naysayer was Chuick Todd at MSNBC, who contemplated how embarrassing it would be for Newt Gingrich should Trump turn his back on the man who overwhelmingly embraced the TV reality show how and gazillionaire. Todd was right. Minutes ago, CNN producer Vaughn Sterling announced via Twitter that Trump will endorse Mitt Romney. A CNN published report notes, “Trump will make the announcement Thursday in Las Vegas, two days before the Nevada caucuses.”
Or, um, not.
Adam Martin at The Atlantic has the best story:
As the political circus that is the GOP primary heads to Las Vegas, Donald Trump has also arrived in Sin City, with some reporting he’s going to endorse Newt Gingrich and others saying he’s betting on Mitt Romney. Clearly, Trump’s hedging his bets, but there’s one sure thing riding on this latest media flurry: His show, The Apprentice, returns to NBC  later this month.
The showy real estate and casino magnate (and onetime not-quite candidate) is expected to make his endorsement official today, whether anyone wants it or not. Trump’s people (we think) are already being pretty chatty about the whole thing, with “sources” telling both CBS and the Associated Press that he’s planning to throw his weight behind Gingrich, but “sources with knowledge of the endorsement” telling CNN he’s in favor of Romney.
Romney, you’ll remember, met with Trump a while back in Trump’s famous Trump Tower, only to hide from reporters expecting a post-metting press conference. Instead, not wanting to be seen with birther and canditease Trump, Romney exited via a hidden back door, all but shaming the Donald. (Perhaps Romney was being kind. He has much better hair than Trump.)
While all this may sound petty — and it is — there are still a fair number of Tea Party conservatives who would support a Trump candidacy, especially given his birther background. Gingrich has the heart of the whack jobs and Tea Party nuts, as he’s been pandering to their racist and homophobic sensibilities more and more as the Florida polls showed him losing more and more to Romney.
While we shouldn’t expect the more reality-based Romney (compared to Gingrich, at least) to start calling for Obama’s birth certificate any time soon, this endorsement — if it happens — will no doubt give Romney fence sitters a push to his lawn. (Which we know isn’t being mowed any more by “illegals,” as he likes to call them.)
Ultimately, of course, this should mean that we won’t have to hear the often-lonely-for-attention Trump suggesting he’ll get back in the race he never entered.
And a Trump endorsement of Romney is good for Trump, as Romney’s favorables and unfavorables are higher than Gingrich’s. Trump is at 31% favorable, and a whopping 64% unfavorable.
There’a a silver cloud to everything.