Donald Trump posted an image of himself holding the gavel from the U.S. House of Representatives to the Truth Social platform on Wednesday afternoon. And while it’s not quite an explicit acknowledgement that he’d like to become Speaker of the House, it will certainly get people talking about the possibility.
The Speaker of the House position was vacated on Tuesday after Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida forced a vote that ousted Kevin McCarthy from that position. Technically speaking, the Speaker doesn’t have to be a member of Congress, which has led some far-right Republicans to call on Trump to fill that role. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia was one of at least three elected Republicans to float the idea on Tuesday.
Trump’s image on Truth Social didn’t include any text, but the photoshopped photo did come from Trump’s official account. It’s not clear if every post from that account is directly from Trump, though he often posts late into the night in all caps, an indication it’s at least sometimes him.
Notably, Sean Hannity of Fox News noted on his Tuesday night show that his “sources” said Trump would be open to serving as Speaker on a short term basis.
Trump himself also talked about the possibility on Wednesday morning in New York while giving a press conference about his civil fraud trial about inflation of assets, including his Florida property Mar-a-Lago.
“A lot of people have been calling me about speaker. All I can say is we will do whatever is best for the country and other Republican Party and people,” Trump said, according to NBC News.
The House went into recess after McCarthy was ousted on Tuesday and isn’t expected to reconvene until next week. The current front-runners to become Speaker are reportedly Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. But if Trump throws his hat into the ring, all bets are off. It’s a long shot, but weirder things have happened.
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