While Donald Trump is working toward becoming president, he has another dream job in the back of his mind. The billionaire reality TV star would love to have the third most powerful job in the United States: Speaker of the House.
Trump has fantasized about sitting next to Vice President Kamala Harry while President Joe Biden addresses Congress during the State of the Union; it would be a rather chaotic scene.
This week, Trump’s goal appeared to be within reach after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker. Minutes after Kevin McCarthy lost his gig, chatter echoed loudly in Washington and the media that Donald Trump was being considered to succeed the California Republican.
Multiple members of the GOP have publicly announced their backing of Trump for the role of speaker. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said in a tweet: “The only candidate for Speaker I am currently supporting is President Donald J. Trump. He will end the war in Ukraine. He will secure the border. He will end the politically weaponized government. He will make America energy independent again. He will pass my bill to stop transgender surgeries on kids and keep men out of women’s sports. He will support our military and police. And so much more! He has a proven 4-year record as President of the United States of America.”
The tweet continued: “He received a record number of Republican votes of any Republican Presidential candidate! We can make him Speaker and then elect him President! He will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan told Fox News the following about the former president getting the high-profile post: “If he wants to be a speaker, that’s fine, too.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who worked overtime to make sure that Kevin McCarthy was ejected from the House leadership, shared his thoughts on Donald Trump taking over Washington by saying: “Frankly, Speaker Trump has a great ring to it.”
Fox News’ Sean Hannity gleefully threw his support behind Donald Trump by telling his viewers: “Now, sources tell me at this hour that some House Republicans have been in contact with and have started an effort to draft former president Donald Trump to be the next speaker, and I have been told that President Trump might be open to helping the Republican Party at least in the short term, if necessary.”
Trump’s desire to become a speaker has been dimmed by one simple rule put in place to prevent anyone indicted for a felony from filling the role.
Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois pointed to rule 26(a) of the House Republican Conference rules for the 118th Congress that clearly states: “A member of the Republican Leadership shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed.”
Trump has been indicted numerous times, is currently being investigated, and is tied up in a mountain of court cases for fraud and sexual misconduct. Unless the rule is changed, Trump will never be the speaker.
Moreover, his team believes that becoming speaker would hurt his run for president. For that reason, Mr. Trump has backed out of the idea and he is supporting Jordan for the job.
