Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich weigh in on the policy implications of the 2016 presidential elections at Dentons’ Chicago office, 233 S. Wacker Drive, on Thursday. — David Thomas
Republicans and conservatives will flock to real estate mogul and presumptive nominee Donald Trump when faced with the prospect of a liberal Supreme Court, predicted former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich on Thursday.
The former Republican presidential candidate said Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, would “radicalize” the high court by appointing justices who could take away the right to own and possess firearms.
“If you believe in the right to bear arms, that would be the end of that,” Gingrich said, adding that this fear would rally guns rights advocates behind Trump.
He added the future of the Supreme Court “may be the most important rallying cry in getting conservatives to side with Trump.”
Gingrich’s comments came at the end of an hourlong discussion between himself and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean on the policy implications of the 2016 presidential election hosted by Dentons at its Chicago office, 233 S. Wacker Drive.
For his part, Dean said Clinton would use the vacancy left open by the death of Supreme Court justice Antonin G. Scalia to nominate someone who would overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010).
That decision, which is widely reviled on the left, struck down limits corporations, unions and other groups could make on independent political expenditures.
“Trump would not be the nominee if it hadn’t been for Citizens United,” Dean told reporters, adding that the decision has done “real damage” to the country’s founding values.
“Citizens United says you’re not — people who have more money are much more equal than you. I think that needs to be undone, and Hillary has said she will appoint a justice who thinks that’s appropriate,” said the former Democratic presidential candidate.
Both Dean and Gingrich serve as senior advisers to Dentons as part of the firm’s U.S. public policy and regulation practice.
Dentons’ practice contains many former state and federal government officials that advise business clients, for instance, on how to navigate different regulatory processes, said Eric Tanenblatt, who co-chairs the practice and previously served in President George H.W. Bush’s administration.
While not full-time at the firm, Gingrich and Dean are essentially on retainer for Dentons as strategic advisers.
“We bring them in to help from a strategic standpoint because they have a unique perspective,” Tanenblatt said. “We are bipartisan, so if you are a client, and you have Howard Dean and Newt Gingrich advising you, you have a broad perspective and can learn some very unique strategies about how to approach your problem.”
Tanenblatt said Thursday’s event is at least the seventh time Dean and Gingrich have weighed in on the current state of the 2016 presidential primary for Dentons’ attorneys and their clients.
“Because of how fluid this race has been, there are new things to talk about,” Tanenblatt said. “They’ve provided a unique opportunity for our firm’s clients and partners ... they know firsthand what it’s like to run for president.”
At the outset of Thursday’s event, Gingrich quipped that all Trump supporters had to do was put up a big poster of Clinton in front of Republicans who have been reluctant to support the brash, controversial frontrunner.
“You say to most Republicans, ‘This is the future of the Supreme Court if you do nothing,’” Gingrich said. “And most Republicans will go, ‘OK, I don’t actually care who Trump is, I’m against her.’”
The panel discussion between Dean and Gingrich touched on many different parts of the 2016 presidential race.
Dean made clear he is backing Clinton, who is still fending off a primary challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Gingrich, meanwhile, sidestepped questions on whether he would be Trump’s pick for vice president.
“You should never turn down an opportunity until it shows up,” Gingrich said at one point.
Gingrich said he has advised the Trump campaign, at one point telling the presidential hopeful that following through on his promise to order the military to break the law would be “illegal, unconstitutional and impeachable.”
The discussion panel was moderated by Carol Marin — the political editor at NBC5 News and a director of DePaul University Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence — who pressed the two on whether the federal government could bail out financially struggling states like Illinois.
Both Dean and Gingrich indicated the federal government could do this and that Clinton is the likelier of the two presumptive candidates to push for this kind of relief.
Dean highlighted the 2013 bankruptcy of Detroit and Congress’ ongoing consideration of debt relief for Puerto Rico as potential models that could apply to the state of Illinois, which is grappling with high pension and borrowing costs.
But both Dean and Gingrich said that such a federal intervention for Illinois would be painful.
“Do I think the federal government’s going to let Illinois go bankrupt? I don’t think so,” Dean said. “I do think the bondholders will take a big haircut, I do think labor is going to take a cut ... I do think the people of Illinois are going to take a hit, no matter what happens.”