Newt Gingrich says Donald Trump has dumped his 'drain the swamp' slogan
Fans of Donald Trump who have his oft-shouted catchphrase "drain the swamp!" in their Twitter bios should probably consider making an edit.
Trump promised voters on the campaign trail he would "drain the swamp" in Washington by kicking out insiders and bringing in fresh blood. Newt Gingrich, the Republican former speaker of the House and an adviser to the president-elect, told NPR Wednesday that he's been told Trump "just disclaims" the slogan (which was arguably already made clear by his Cabinet choices thus far). "He now says it was cute, but he doesn't want to use it anymore," Gingrich said.
While Gingrich says he has a "sense of humor" and enjoys the "alligator and swamp language," it's possible that Trump feels "as the next president of the United States, that he should be marginally more dignified than taking about alligators in swamps." It doesn't matter what makes Gingrich giggle, though — as he told NPR, Trump is "my leader and if he decides to drop the swamp and the alligator, I will drop the swamp and the alligator."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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