Newt Gingrich adds $15K to speaking fees for his 'insight' into Trump

It apparently pays to pal around with Donald Trump — even when you continue to scold him in public.

Newt Gingrich is cashing in on his purported ties to the president-elect, upping his public speaking fees by around $15,000 a pop, Politico reported. Citing his "insight" into Trump's "philosophies, principles and objectives," Gingrich's speaking agency, Worldwide Speakers Group, sent a notice of the fee increase on Thursday afternoon.

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A vocal surrogate for Trump on the campaign trail, the moon-obsessed former House speaker will now charge a cool $25,000 plus the cost of ground transportation for any speaking event in Washington, D.C. Those who wish to host Gingrich at an event east of Chicago will have to shell $60,000 and first-class travel for two. That fee rises to $75,000 and a pair of first-class accommodations for any speaking gig west of the Windy City, the email said.

"Few people in the world have as much insight into President-elect Trump's philosophies, principles and objectives as Newt Gingrich," the email read. "As the senior voice in the Republican Party and advisor to the new Administration, Gingrich has been at the forefront of the Republican strategy for the last two years."

Few allies of the president-elect have also been able to so openly criticize him. Gingrich, who at different times was rumored to be a pick for Trump's vice president and secretary of state, repeatedly chastised him during the campaign. He called Trump's racially-charged remarks against a judge presiding over the Trump University civil fraud case a "mistake" and "inexcusable," and publicly rebuked some of the candidate's late-night Twitter meltdowns.

Gingrich offered Trump another tongue-lashing this week after the president-elect claimed, without evidence, that millions of people had illegally voted in the election that he won. "The president of the United States can't randomly tweet without having somebody check it out," Gingrich told USA Today. "It undermines much more than a single tweet."

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