Newt Gingrich – whose candidacy for president last year was helped enormously by a billionaire supporter – condemned a new effort to support more viable Republican candidates as “a bunch of billionaires financing a boss to pick candidates.”

RELATED: Conservative thinkers: GOP should cut 'stale' policies loose

Gingrich wrote in the conservative publication Human Events:

I am unalterably opposed to a bunch of billionaires financing a boss to pick candidates in 50 states. This is the opposite of the Republican tradition of freedom and grassroots small town conservatism.

No one person is smart enough nor do they have the moral right to buy nominations across the country.

That is the system of Tammany Hall and the Chicago machine. It should be repugnant to every conservative and every Republican.

Chris Keane / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks at a rally on the night of the New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware primaries in Concord, North Carolina April 24, 2012.

The former House speaker joined a series of conservatives to pile on Rove’s Conservative Victory Project, a new initiative associated with the super PAC American Crossroads to ensure more electable congressional candidates. Rove’s effort is meant to discourage GOP voters from nominating candidates like Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, the candidates for Senate in Missouri and Indiana, respectively, who lost races that many Republicans regarded as more easily winnable.

Of course, Gingrich was the beneficiary of billionaire largess, too. Sheldon Adelson, the Vegas-based casino magnate, and his wife, Miriam, donated a total of $20 million to the pro-Newt super PAC Winning Our Future last year, according to Federal Election Commission records.

This morning's Meet the Press featured a lively debate on our roundtable about where the presidential race stands and what role the first debate and new unemployment numbers have played in changing its makeup.

Last week's first debate was widely viewed as a win for Mitt Romney due to a lackluster performance from the president. Obama campaign re-election strategist Robert Gibbs admitted this morning that the president was unhappy with his performance. "It's not rocket science to believe that the president was disappointed in the expectations he set for himself."

Gibbs said part of the reason for this was that "we met a new Mitt Romney" that backed away from his past positions.

He also gave backhanded praise to what he referred to as "Mitt's masterful theatrical performance."

"He did a superb acting job," Gibbs said, adding "He did everything but learn tap dance."

Republican strategist Mike Murphy had a different take. "He lost the debate because he had nothing to say. ... [The Obama Campaign] has the thinnest reelection brochure ever."

Looking forward, Vice President Joe Biden will square off against his challenger Paul Ryan this Thursday in the first and only debate between the two men. 

Robert Gibbs said the Vice President is "anxious and ready to do this." Former GOP Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich thinks Paul Ryan will be "respectful" adding that he will "not give an inch."

You can watch the entire program on our website, including a one-on-one interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger on his new book Total Recall. The former California governor weighs in on the current state of our politics and talks frankly about his marriage-ending affair; something he calls a "major screw-up."

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

Efrem Lukatsky / AP file

Newt Gingrich says Mitt Romney's space plan doesn't go far enough.

BELOIT, Wis. – One-time presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, who promised during the GOP primary to create a U.S. moon colony if elected, criticized Mitt Romney’s plan for space exploration as not being “robust” enough.

“The Romney plan for space starts to move in the right direction but could be much more robust,” the former House speaker told NBC News a day after the Republican presidential nominee unveiled his “Securing U.S. Leadership in Space” plan. “We could move into space much, much faster than we are. Romney is better than [President] Obama on space but could be bolder and more visionary.”

Saturday, Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, laid out the campaign’s plan during a townhall meeting in Orlando, Fla., and accused President Barack Obama of “dismantling” America’s space program.

"We are near the Space Coast, I think it’s important that we have a space program that has a clear space mission, a space program that we know where we are heading in the future, and a space program that is the unequivocal leader on the planet in space travel and space research,” Ryan said at the University of Central Florida. “We don’t have that right now.”

The Wisconsin congressman continued: “Mitt Romney and I believe that America must lead in space. Mitt Romney and I believe we need a mission for NASA, a mission for a space program, and we also believe that this is an integral part of our national security.”

During the long Republican primary season, Gingrich regularly spoke about fixing the space program after the cancellation of American space shuttles.

Speaking in Cocoa, Fla., at the end of January, Gingrich vowed the United States would “have the first permanent base on the moon” and by the end of 2020 the country would have "the first continuous propulsion system in space" capable of allowing people travel to Mars.

Romney, whom Gingrich later endorsed for president after suspending his campaign in May, mocked the former House speaker for proposing a lunar colony during one of the several GOP debates earlier in the year.

"I spent 25 years in business. If I had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I'd say, 'You're fired,'" Romney said at the debate in Jacksonville, Fla., co-hosted by CNN, the Republican Party of Florida and the Hispanic Leadership Network. "The idea that corporate America wants to go off to the moon and build a colony there, it may be a big idea, but it's not a good idea."

Under a President Romney administration, there would be four space priorities: focusing NASA, partnering internationally, strengthening security, and revitalizing industry.

The steps put forward by the Romney-Ryan ticket do not go far enough in Gingrich’s eyes.

“I was with Richard Branson in Yalta last week and his commitment to a dynamic private secure entrepreneurial model that works with innovators and risk-takers to put people into space inexpensively (compared to government rates) is a big example of the future,” Gingrich said in an email Sunday.

Branson, the entrepreneur and CEO of Virgin Airlines, is launching Branson's Virgin Galactic which will offer commercial space flights as the government closes down it’s space shuttle operations.

The NBC Politics team has curated some of the notable speeches from the final night of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. 

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney addresses the RNC Thursday, in Tampa, Fla.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's speech to the Republican National Convention focused on family and faith, while also jabbing at Obama administration policies during his introduction of GOP nominee Mitt Romney. 

Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood speaks at the RNC Thursday, in Tampa, Fla.

U.S. Olympians, including Kim Rhode, Mike Eruzione and Derek Parra, address the RNC Thursday, in Tampa, Fla.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks to the RNC while being joined on stage by educator Sean Duffy and school choice beneficiary Frantz Placide.

Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., addresses the RNC Thursday, in Tampa.

Newt and Callista Gingrich tell the RNC that Mitt Romney has the same belief in the core values of the Republican party that former President Ronald Reagan once held.

Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker and presidential contender, tells TODAY's Matt Lauer that Mitt Romney's running mate Paul Ryan is accustomed to reaching across the aisle to find solution by working with Democrats. 

ARLINGTON, VA -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday afternoon that he's “very comfortable” not having a speaking role at the Republican National Committee convention next month.

“I personally am very comfortable not giving a speech because I think frankly, there is a whole new generation of candidates out there and people who represent the future,” Gingrich said following a quick event at Belmont TV on behalf of Mitt Romney. “But we haven’t talked about that yet.”

Gingrich -- who addressed reporters in the same city where he suspended his presidential campaign nearly three months ago -- promised continuously during the final weeks of his failed presidential run that he would push for a “conservative platform.”

No official announcement has been made regarding the former House speaker’s role in Tampa. but one spot is sure at the Democratic National Committee Convention in early September: Former President Bill Clinton will address the crowd and Gingrich is pleased.

“I think that will be a terrific opportunity for those of us who served with President Clinton to point out that Barack Obama is no Bill Clinton,” Gingrich said. (That said, Gingrich presided as the speaker of the GOP-controlled House that voted to impeach Clinton during the late 1990s.)

While Monday’s event just outside of Washington, DC in the battleground state of Virginia was billed by the Romney campaign as a “we did build this event,” the questions asked of Gingrich focused on a variety of other topics, including the GOP nominee’s tax returns.

Gingrich, who was a leading voice calling for Mitt Romney to release his tax returns during the primaries, today said “people are not going to take that as a major issue.”

“I’ve tried to raise the issue but frankly, I think the results of the primary also indicated that the American voters are pretty comfortable that this is a guy who has had good accountants, good lawyers, he has obeyed the law,” he said.

Asked to weigh in on the developing dialogue from Romney’s trip overseas – specifically the GOP nominee’s remarks in Jerusalem that drew a link between culture and GDP in Israel and Palestinian territories.

“I think that the whole issue of how do you encourage an economy based on trust and faith, how do you encourage the rule of law when you have Hamas and Hezbollah and Fatah and I think there is a legitimate question to say maybe these are antithetical to being prosperous. I find it fascinating that nobody wants to ask the question, why is Hong Kong prosperous? Why is Singapore prosperous? Why is Israel prosperous? Why can't we apply this same prosperity to Gaza? Why can't we apply this same prosperity to the West Bank?” Gingrich said.

Updated 3:53 p.m. - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has joined forces with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to launch a fundraising committee aimed at helping to pay off the millions of debt owed by his erstwhile presidential campaign while also helping active GOP candidates for Congress.

A committee, "Solutions Start in the House," registered with the Federal Election Commission at the end of May. Proceeds from the joint committee are split between Newt 2012 and the NRCC. The next fundraising stop for the committee is coming up in Nevada.

"The goal of this venture is to raise money for candidates running for the House but also to  pay down our own debt," Gingrich spokesman, RC Hammond, told NBC News. "We want to pay off the debt off as fast as possible but we are realistic that it will take a few years to pay down the debt."

After Gingrich withdrew from the presidential race in early May, FEC reports showed he was nearly $4.8 million in debt. As of last month, the campaign still owed slightly more than $4.7 million.

Hammond says this partnership with the NRCC is just one of the avenues Newt 2012 is using to pay off the debt. Gingrich has also been traveling to various states to host small luncheons and receptions on his own to raise money and the campaign has been renting their email and mail lists in addition to Solutions Start in the House.

Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney has not directly helped Gingrich pay off any debt but the former speaker has attended at least two known fundraisers with Romney in Georgia and Nevada that could have brought new funds to Newt 2012.

According to a source close to many of the creditors, the campaign set up long term deals with many companies owed money back in May that they would make monthly payments. The payments came for the month of June, the source says, but not for July.

There is still a long way to go, Hammond admitted, but said they were trying to be "proactive." Creating this group with the NRCC, fell in line with Gingrich's desire to help create a conservative platform for the GOP ticket and encourage a greater majority in the House of Representatives.

Adding to his visibility, the former Speaker will also appear on The Tonight Show this Wednesday.

Is Mitt Romney playing with fire in his dealings with Donald Trump?

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee will appear with Trump, the pugnacious real estate mogul and reality television star, at a fundraiser Tuesday in Las Vegas. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a nemesis of Romney's throughout the Republican presidential primary, will round out the group.

Steve Marcus / Reuters

Real estate mogul Donald Trump's ties to presidential candidate Mitt Romney run deeper than most run-of-the-mill supporters of the former Massachusetts governor.

Setting aside Gingrich’s own bombast, it’s Trump who could prove the bigger long-term headache for Romney. The latest example of that came Tuesday morning, when Trump said he’s still unconvinced that President Barack Obama was born in the United States, further linking Romney to that sentiment in a subsequent tweet from his @realDonaldTrump handle:

@BarackObama is practically begging @MittRomney to disavow the place of birth movement, he is afraid of it and for good reason. He keeps using @SenJohnMcCain as an example, however, @SenJohnMcCain lost the election. Don’t let it happen again.

It’s become clear that Trump’s ties to Romney run deeper than most run-of-the-mill supporters of the former Massachusetts governor. Romney and Trump appeared together when the “Apprentice” host made official his endorsement on Feb. 2. Since then, Trump’s become an involved surrogate for Romney, doing radio interviews and robocalls during the height of the GOP primary. He’s also hosted fundraisers for Romney, most notably one on Ann Romney’s birthday that netted the campaign $600,000.

“Donald Trump is playing an extremely important role, which has been acknowledged by both Ann and Mitt Romney, which has been acknowledged by them in election night speeches,” said Michael Cohen, a spokesman for Trump, in an interview.

Romney put some distance between the two men, though, before taking off for Colorado late on Monday night. "You know, I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in. But I need to get 50.1 percent or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people," he told reporters aboard his campaign charter plane.

Romney was burned back in April when conservative rocker (and campaign supporter) Ted Nugent called Obama “evil,” and said if the incumbent were to win re-election, “I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

FIRST THOUGHTS: Playing the Trump card

Democrats stoked that story in the media, forcing Romney to personally address the Nugent controversy; now, it appears as though they’re hoping for another opportunity to do the same with Trump.

That is, when — not if — Trump goes off-message, Romney will have to answer for the controversy. His campaign won’t have the luxury of shrugging off a figure like Trump, who’s undeniably much closer to the Republican nominee than Nugent.

"It raises a question, that's come up before during this campaign, as to whether Gov. Romney will embrace these extreme voices in his party, or stand up to them," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Friday on MSNBC.

And already, the Obama campaign released a video on Tuesday bracketing the fundraiser this evening, contrasting Romney's relative silence toward Trump with the actions taken by Republican nominee John McCain in 2008 to shun extreme voices in the GOP.

For now, the Romney campaign has emphasized its singular focus on the economy, casting media firestorms around Trump or Romney’s previous work at Bain Capital as nothing less than a distraction.

"In a world of record job loss, record home loss, more people falling into poverty than time since the Depression, I don't think this stuff matters," said a Romney aide. "I would think the last few weeks would be a good lesson in that. From the anniversary of the Osama bin Laden killing to gay marriage, this election is just about one thing: are you happy with the economy and who do you think will do a better job?"

But the irony for Romney is that, for a campaign that prides itself on discipline and focus, its association with Trump threatens at any moment to knock the candidate off-message.

• Consider just a small sampling of the things Trump has recently said:
  May 22: Trump said on CNN that invoking Obama’s association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright in the campaign, which Romney had disavowed, is fair game. "These tapes are devastating for the president. I mean, Rev. Wright is an angry man. He's extremely angry at the president,” Trump said on CNN. “I see nothing wrong with using it."
  May 22: Also on May 22, Trump stoked the flames of “birtherism,” skepticism of whether the president was born in the U.S., despite Obama having released his long-form birth certificate a year earlier, showing he was, in fact, born in Hawaii. Trump tweeted: “I wonder if @BarackObama ever applied to Occidental, Columbia or Harvard as a foreign student. When can we see his applications? What do they say about his place of birth.”
  May 7: Trump suggested, during the Chen Guangcheng incident, that the United States’ economic tension versus China could translate into an actual war in due time. “It's not a war with bullets, but it's certainly a war,” Trump said of those economic tensions. “Maybe someday, it ends up with bullets because, frankly, they're building a military like you wouldn't believe.”

And there are more politically substantive examples of Trump breaking with Romney and the GOP.

“I just think it’s very dangerous,” he said of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposals this March on FOX. “Already, the Democrats are just starting to write their campaign literature based on this plan. I think it’s very dangerous for the Republicans.”

Cohen said that Trump didn’t presume to speak for Romney.

“Donald Trump is his own individual, and he will make statements that he feels are accurate, are on the minds of other Americans and are significant in showing the voters who the real Barack Obama is,” he said. “Whatever questions will be posed to Gov. Romney and the Romney camp, they are certainly entitled to answer as they see fit. The current president and vice president don’t agree on all topics. Not all Republicans agree with all Republicans, and not all Democrats agree with all Democrats. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”

And to Trump’s credit, he’s never been known as a shrinking violet. His views have certainly been publicly aired at this point, and voters may be able to better distinguish between his headline-grabbing comments and the more staid sentiments of Romney.

But in a campaign cycle driven by grievance politics (“When will Mitt Romney/Barack Obama apologize for…?”), it’s difficult to imagine Romney not having to answer for some outburst of Trump’s between now and November.

“He’ll stand up next to Donald Trump, and he’ll talk about why he wants to be president, and why he believes the economy needs to be turned around,” Romney adviser Kevin Madden said Friday on MSNBC of the way Romney would relate to Trump. “Anytime that something goes off of that – or something where Gov. Romney would disagree – he’s going to make that very clear, just as he has in the past, and he’ll do it in the present, and he’ll do it in the future.”

NBC’s Garrett Haake contributed to this report.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former GOP candidate Newt Gingrich discuss the 2012 race with NBC's David Gregory.

Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich re-affirmed his support for Mitt Romney this morning saying he is "totally committed" to helping Romney win the White House.

Gingrich also critiqued President Obama's recent campaign strategy of attacking Romney's economic record as well as his time at Bain Capital.

"This is a little bit like the reverse of James Carville in '92," the former House Speaker said. "Obama picking a fight on the economy is probably the worst possible strategy for his campaign."

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, a supporter of President Obama, attempted to contrast the President's record with Mitt Romney's.

"What the leader of the whole economy must be concerned about is not the short-term return of profits to a few, but a long-term economy that creates jobs for the many."

O'Malley, a man often mentioned as a possible 2016 presidential candidate received advice this morning from Newt Gingrich about how to prepare for a run for the nation's highest office.

"Raise a lot of money," Gingrich advised.

Our roundtable broke down the ground rules for the campaign and tried to answer the question: What is fair game in this election.

With personal attacks coming from both campaigns, David Brooks contended that it's likely to get worse, "Both people in both campaigns are going to get their juices flowing, and they're going to take meaner and meaner shots."

You can watch our entire program on our website including a special discussion with two sought-after commencement speakers and their advice for the class of 2012: Maria Shriver, and best-selling author Michael Lewis.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.

Newt Gingrich will make his first appearance with presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney on May 29 in Las Vegas.

NBC News has learned the former House speaker will attend a fundraiser for Romney at Trump Towers in Las Vegas Tuesday evening. Donald Trump will also attend.

The last time Gingrich and Romney were in Nevada together was in early February, amid a bitter fight for the nomination.

Rumors broke just days before the Feb. 4 Nevada caucuses – and were confirmed by several news outlets -- that Trump himself would endorse Gingrich. Hours later, however, the casino mogul endorsed Romney.

A joint public event with the two former competitors may occur next month.

ARLINGTON, VA -- Newt Gingrich finally ended his presidential bid on Wednesday at a hotel just outside of the nation's capital, where he once led the Republican Party in Congress.

After a week of broadcasting his intent to suspend his campaign -- including the release of a video earlier this week thanking supporters and previewing the announcement -- Gingrich formally ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination at an event his campaign had billed as a "press conference to announce suspension of campaign."

Benjamin Myers / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich speaks next to his wife Callista Gingrich as he suspends his presidential campaign May 2 in Arlington, Va.

"Today, I'm suspending the campaign but suspending the campaign does not mean suspending citizenship. Callista and I are committed to be active citizens. We owe it to America. We owe it to Maggie and Robert," Gingrich said, referring to his only two grandchildren, here in his home state of Virginia.

Once bitter rival of Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP nominee, Gingrich vowed during his 26 minute speech to do whatever possible to beat Barack Obama but came short of actually endorsing Romney.

"I'm asked sometimes is Mitt Romney conservative enough. And my answer is simple: compared to Barack Obama? You know, this is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan. This is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical leftist President in American history," Gingrich said while addressing roughly 100 members of the media inside the Hilton Hotel.

Romney said in a statement: "Newt Gingrich has brought creativity and intellectual vitality to American political life.  During the course of this campaign, Newt demonstrated both eloquence and fearlessness in advancing conservative ideas. Although he long ago created an enduring place for himself in American history, I am confident that he will continue to make important contributions to our party and to the life of the nation."

Gingrich’s spokesman said an official endorsement of Romney is still to come.

The news was far from surprising, given the way the former House speaker had been openly discussing the prospect of his exiting from the race ever since he finished poorly in the Delaware primary.

After finishing nearly 30 percent behind Mitt Romney in DE -- a state Gingrich frequented leading up to the election -- the speaker basically  gave two concession speeches while campaigning in North Carolina last week. He began calling Romney the "nominee" and said it was time to "be honest about what's happening in the real world as opposed to what you would like to have happen."

Gingrich's campaign had been considered virtually dead for weeks, though the winner of the South Carolina and Georgia primaries vowed to contest the nomination all the way through the Republican convention this summer in Tampa. Gingrich had assailed Romney's conservatism, and, to boot, President Obama's campaign circulated a video this morning featuring the ex-speaker's greatest hits against Romney.

That said, the month of May is far later in the election cycle than most political observers thought Gingrich would last. After suffering missteps in the launch of his campaign, most of Gingrich's senior staff quit on him last June.

Gingrich must also still work to erase millions of debts incurred during his campaign, mostly during its tail end.

But at today’s event, the Speaker seemed cheerful and unfazed by the $4 million hole he is in. He rather spent time talking about one of his most memorable ideas from the past 10 months – his proposed moon colony.
 
“My wife has pointed out to me approximately 219 times, give or take three, that the moon colony was probably not my most clever comment in this campaign. I thought, frankly, in my role providing material for Saturday night live it was helpful but the underlying key point is real,” Gingrich joked.