MEGYN KELLY (HOST): Let's talk about the Trump campaign and the discipline, or lack thereof that we've seen in recent days. You know, today we saw the candidate himself come out and attack Michelle Fields after his campaign manager was criminally charged. And there really wasn't any need for Donald Trump to insert himself into the middle of that fight, not withstanding his loyalty to his campaign manager. He wasn't directly -- it wasn't his fight. But he did so, attacking Heidi Cruz last week, which also did not need to be done. He's attacked others, as you know, who he didn't necessarily, he didn't need to do that. What do you make of the repeated attacks in particular against women by a campaign that is struggling with women?

NEWT GINGRICH: Well I think in particular, in the case of Mrs. Cruz, it was a total mistake. He shouldn't have done it. He was angry because the Cruz Super PAC had attacked his wife, Melania. But he had a lot of easy answers to come back and just say, look, she's beautiful, she's a super model, she was on a professional shoot for a very classy magazine. She would be a very attractive first lady and get over it. Instead he automatically attacked. And that's why I always recommend to people to read The Art of the Comeback, Trump spoke about the 1990's because part of what he learned was to always counterpunch. If you watch him, he always counterpunches. I actually draw a distinction in the Lewandowski case because he was going to be asked about it. And Trump's basic model is to stay on offense.

KELLY: Why couldn't he just say, “This is my guy. A criminal process is going to play out. A jury will have its say. I'm not firing anybody until that happens and then we'll reassess.” Or he can say, “What I saw on the tape didn't rise to me to be a fireable offense.” That's understandable. But the demolition campaign against her reputation is a different matter.

GINGRICH: But notice the language you just used. Suddenly it goes from a misdemeanor to a criminal violation -

KELLY: It is a criminal -- he's been charged with a criminal violation.

GINGRICH: So now we have is Lewandowski a criminal?

KELLY: Those aren't your words. I mean, that's what the police are saying. That he's been charged with a criminal misdemeanor.

GINGRICH: That's right, criminal misdemeanor, by a Democrat local official in a county with a very long history of very partisan politics.

KELLY: But you saw the tape and you heard The Washington Post reporter independent account of what happened. No one's saying this is a major beating. It's a simple battery, that's it.

GINGRICH: Simple battery, which has now been translated into a criminal offense. And you have never been in a scrum in a presidential campaign where people were shoved around, including by the way the press. Including by the press.

KELLY: Of course I have, many times. She didn't want to file a federal case over it, Mr. Speaker. She wanted an apology. And then they attacked her and said she was delusional and suggested she made the whole thing up and tried to question prior reporting and demanding to know why she wouldn't file a police report and only talked about it online. So what'd she do the next day? She went and filed the police report. That's how we got to this place.

Previously:

Fox Hosts Agree, Donald Trump Should Fire Corey Lewandowski

Conservative Media Figures Dismiss and Downplay Corey Lewandowski's Battery Charge

Fox's Carlson Challenges Trump Surrogate's Claim That Lewandowski's Battery Charge Is Part Of “Daily Life On A Presidential Campaign”