With the Republican caucus of the US House of Representatives in major disarray after the ouster of former speaker Kevin McCarthy by a vote of 216-210 on Tuesday, Former US President Donald Trump told reporters in a press conference held Wednesday in the hall outside the New York City courtroom where he is on trial in a civil fraud case, that he “would serve” as speaker of the House “for a short term,” if asked.
Although he said he was focused on running for President, he allowed that he could help the Republican party “if necessary.”
“A lot of people have been calling me about [being] the speaker,” he said. “If I can help them during the process, I would do it. But we have some great people in the Republican Party who would do a great job as speaker.”
Trump later posted an endorsement of Congressman Jim Jordan to succeed McCarthy as the chamber’s bickering Republicans try to come together in the aftermath of McCarthy’s historic fall, reported Reuters on Friday.
Republicans, who control the House by a slim 221-212 advantage, are scheduled to have a closed-door forum for candidates for speaker on Tuesday, a gathering that the former Republican president has stated he will attend. A vote is scheduled for the next day.
Although House rules do not require the speaker to be a member of Congress, Trump already has a lot on his plate with four pending criminal trials, two of which are tied to his efforts to impede a peaceful transition of power to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Eight extreme-right Republicans in the House had orchestrated a vote of no confidence against Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday, plunging Congress into more chaos only days after it narrowly avoided a government shutdown and months after averting a Republican-driven near default on $31.4 trillion in US debt and a partial government shutdown.