Newt Gingrich pleads with Donald Trump to make 'real change' to his campaign - while helping him fall into the 'Machado trap'  

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A frustrated Newt Gingrich, one of Donald Trump's most prominent Republican supporters, publicly begged the GOP nominee to stop damaging his candidacy. 

Gingrich mouthed off to the New York Times' Maggie Haberman, telling the reporter, 'I really want him to understand that he can win this.' 

'He is the one person who can beat him – not Hillary,' the former House speaker continued, noting that Trump needed to make some 'real change,' especially in the aftermath of his feud with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. 

 It was a marked change of tune from Wednesday night, when Dailymail.com caught Gingrich speaking confidently to the Log Cabin Republicans about the race.

Gingrich told the crowd that Hillary Clinton's campaign and the mainstream media had joined forces to lay 'the Machado trap.' 

And he doubled down on Trump's rhetoric about the beauty queen, telling the laughing crowd, 'you are not supposed to gain 60 pounds the year you're Miss Universe.'  

But Gingrich thought that the controversy, and Trump's mediocre debate performance, would blow over. 

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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich talked to the New York Times and publicly plead with Donald Trump to make changes to his campaign 

Donald Trump has taken a political hit for allegations that he called a former Miss Universe 'Miss Piggy' for gaining weight. He confirmed the weight gain and called it a 'problem'

'In my judgment, Donald Trump will take 96 hours to recover from the debate. Not because he did particularly badly. He strategically won,' Gingrich told the crowd at the 'Spirit of Lincoln' dinner. 

The former speaker noted how the polls had been looking good for Trump pre-debate, even in the blue state on Minnesota, where a Gravis poll from late September showed the two candidates tied.

Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado happily helped Hillary Clinton hurt Donald Trump's chances for the White House 

'For a Republican to carry Minnesota, the catastrophe of the Democrats is going to be on a scale comparable to what happened to Jimmy Carter or George McGovern,' Gingrich said, noting that Trump was doing well in places like Iowa and Wisconsin as well, and that Clinton supporters were picking up fewer absentee ballots than those who cast votes for President Obama. 

Gingrich suggested that this is because when Clinton campaigns she's 'joyless' and like a 'teacher who is always mad at you.'  

'The other night she was very good,' Gingrich gave her. 'They trained and practiced for weeks: smile.' 

'Go back and watch a rerun: smile, smile,' he continued. 

'And then after weeks of staying off the campaign trail practicing "smile," she was able to smile for 90 minutes,' he said. 'She may have fired the consultant who made her do that because the pain level was so high,' he added, to big laughs.

The reason Gingrich said Trump 'strategically' won was because 'in the absence of destroying [Trump], the country is not going to vote for Hillary.'

The ex-House member pointed to the 1980 election between Ronald Reagan and Carter, noting how Americans walked away from the one debate between the presidential candidates and felt that 'Reagan was fine.'  

Gingrich then predicted a large swing toward Trump, like what happened to Reagan. 

'And it happened in four days,' Gingrich said. 'Because, in the end, the country just says, "I just can't do this."'   

Now, Gingrich's remarks to the Times, which Haberman described as 'openly pleading' suggest he's worried that Trump has become the candidate that the country just can't do. 

'He has to decide that the presidency is worth drilling into,' Gingrich told the Times. 

After Gingrich's own remarks about Machado's weight, Trump tore into the beauty queen Friday, after 3 a.m., on Twitter. 

There, Trump suggested she had a sex tape. 

Clinton, who told Machado's story of being called 'Miss Piggy' and 'Miss Housekeeping' by Trump during her Miss Universe years at last Monday's debate, said she thought the billionaire had become even more 'unhinged.' 

A new Morning Consult/Politico poll that was released today showed that 74 percent of registered voters were aware of Trump's 'Miss Piggy' comments and 41 percent of them had a much less favorable view of The Donald. 

Of those bothered, 44 percent were women – a constituency that the Republican nominee needs – and 36 percent were men. 

Another 13 percent of registered voters said they had a somewhat less favorable view of the businessman. Nine percent said it improved their view of him. 

Among undecided voters, a group Trump also needs to grab, 38 percent said they were less likely to vote for the Republican, versus another 41 percent who said the comments about the beauty queen made no difference. 

Talking about Trump to Haberman, Gingrich suggested there still was some hope, 'He has gotten himself to the edge of the mountain, he can get himself to the top of the mountain, but to do that he has to be willing to make real change.' 

'With the possible exception of Eisenhower, nobody in modern times has become president without making [major changes],' Gingrich said.