Donald Trump Breaks Silence on Being Speaker of the House

Donald Trump has broken his silence about the currently vacant speaker position in the House of Representatives.

On Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy was stripped of his control of the lower chamber less than nine months after he initially took the gavel. Eight Republicans led by Representative Matt Gaetz received support from enough Democrats to successfully vacate McCarthy by a 216-210 vote, resulting in North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry temporarily taking over speaker pro tempore.

The Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy aside from Gaetz were Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

While some Trump acolytes within the House GOP have openly expressed their willingness for Trump to take the gavel, the former president seems ambivalent based on his presidential prospects and being inundated with myriad legal cases.

"A lot of people have been calling me about speaker," Trump said on Wednesday from a New York courtroom where he was once again present for his civil fraud trial. "All I can say is we'll do whatever's best for the country and for the Republican Party...We have some great, great people."

When asked if he would actually take the job, Trump said he's been asked by "a lot of people."

"We're leading by like 50 points for president, so my focus is totally on that," the former president said. "If I can help them during the process, I would do it, but we have some great people in the Republican Party that can do a great job as speaker."

Since McCarthy has vowed not to run again for the speakership, many House Republicans and conservative commentators have thrown Trump's name into the conversation.

Fox News host Sean Hannity said on Tuesday that some House Republicans have already begun drafting a letter to get ready for Trump to take over. Steve Bannon, Trump's former adviser in the White House, said, "Who better to bring this party together?"

Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said that voting in Trump as the next speaker would be a good "litmus test" for Republicans in relation to the ex-president's "fake" trials and charges.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former lawyer and fellow indicted defendant in the election interference case in Georgia, also floated the idea on X, formerly Twitter.

Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene has quickly switched her allegiance from McCarthy to Trump, writing Wednesday on X that Trump is the best person available to fill the void.

"The only candidate for Speaker I am currently supporting is President Donald J. Trump," the congresswoman wrote. "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," Greene added.

Representatives Troy Nehls of Texas and Greg Steube of Florida have also supported Trump as speaker.

Newt Gingrich, who served as House speaker in the 1990s, referred to those Republicans who ousted McCarthy as "traitors."

Some have also questioned whether Trump is legally allowed to take over the speakership. Former New York Assistant Attorney General Tristan Snell wrote on X that House Republicans' own rules require a leader to step aside if indicted for a felony of two-plus years of prison.

The post included screen-grabbed text that stated: "Rule 26—Temporary Step Aside of a Member of Leadership who is Indicted (a) 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."

Snell alludes to a rule enacted on January 3, 2005, which seems to bar Trump from the position as written.

However, the rules can be changed by the GOP with the required creation of an ad hoc committee, appointed by the speaker and chaired by a senior Republican member of the Committee on Rules of the House.

That doesn't include the political ramifications associated with nominating Trump, though.

Aside from Trump, Representative Jim Jordan has already expressed his interest in being the next speaker and has received some support, including from Representative Matt Gaetz.

"We need to unite the conference, I think I can do that. My colleagues who have reached out to me seem to think the same thing," Jordan said, according to Andrew Solender of Axios.

Jordan's office later confirmed the congressman's intentions to Newsweek.

Update 10/04/23, 2:29 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.