Former President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a “lot of people” have called him about becoming Speaker of the House after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the position, adding that he’ll do “whatever’s best” for the Republican Party.
At the same time, he didn’t endorse a successor to McCarthy, whom he once lovingly referred to as “My Kevin” for the now-former speaker’s willingness to do the quadruply indicted ex-president’s bidding in the House.
Making his way to the courtroom to attend the third day of his civil fraud trial in New York, Trump briefly stopped to answer reporters’ questions about the vacancy in House leadership, referencing the fact that several allies have called on him to take over for McCarthy.
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“A lot of people have been calling me about speaker. All I can say is we’ll do whatever’s best for the country and the Republican Party,” he declared. “We have some great people.”
Shortly after McCarthy’s removal, which was made possible by MAGA Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and other right-wing hardliners, a number of GOP lawmakers unofficially nominated Trump for the role.
Meanwhile, Fox News host and Trump confidant Sean Hannity reported on Tuesday night that “some Republicans have been in contact with and has started an effort to draft former President Donald Trump to be the next speaker.” Hannity, once considered the White House “shadow chief of staff” during the Trump administration, added that “Trump might be open to helping the Republican Party, at least in the short term, if necessary.”
Asked on Wednesday whether he would “take the job” if nominated by the House, Trump appeared to shoot down the notion—though he didn’t fully close the door on the idea.
“A lot of people have asked me about it. I’m focused… you know we’re leading by like 50 points for president. My focus is totally on that,” he stated. “If I can help them during the process, I would do it. But we have some great people in the Republican Party who can do a great job as speaker.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a Trump loyalist and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, threw his hat in the ring and officially announced his candidacy for the gavel on Wednesday morning. During his Tuesday night appearance on Hannity’s show, Jordan attempted to shrug off a Trump speakership without completely ruling it out.
“I want him to be the next president of the United States, but if he wants to be speaker, that’s fine too,” Jordan told the Fox News host.
Outside of Jordan, other likely candidates to succeed McCarthy are House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), who has been making calls to gather support, and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), the chair of the Republican Study Committee. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) has also been floated as a possibility, but he’s already thrown his support behind Scalise in a bid for the majority leader role.
As for the fever dream of Trump as the House’s speaker, some political reporters have already thrown cold water on this happening, while other lawmakers have noted that House Republican rules state that anyone under a felony indictment can’t serve in leadership.
