Donald Trump, a former US president, reportedly offered to temporarily assume the position of speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Republican Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his position as speaker this week in a dramatic, unprecedented uprising by far-right members of his own party who were incensed by his cooperation with Democrats and accused him of breaking a number of commitments.
“I have been asked to speak as a unifier because I have so many friends in Congress,” Trump told Fox News. “If they don’t get the vote, they have asked me if I would consider taking the speakership until they get somebody longer-term, because I am running for president.”
But former Republican congresswoman Barbara Comstock told CNN that Trump would not be eligible for the role because he has been charged with criminal offenses.
“Unfortunately he doesn’t know the House rules, which say if you’re indicted you cannot be in House leadership,” Comstock said.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is set to go on trial in Washington, D.C., in March of next year for allegedly attempting to tamper with the outcome of the Democrat Joe Biden-won election in November 2020.
Trump is also facing accusations of racketeering in Georgia for allegedly plotting to rig the results of the state’s election, and he will stand trial in Florida in May 2024 for allegedly handling top-secret government papers improperly.
Additionally, a civil fraud trial is presently underway in New York against Trump and his two eldest sons for misrepresenting the value of their real estate holdings in order to qualify for better insurance and bank loan terms.
