Former American President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will support the candidacy of Congressman Jim Jordan for the position of President of the House of Representatives in Washington, reports Reuters and Agerpres.
Donald Trump with Jim Jordan at an election rallyPhoto: Michael Conroy / Associated Press / Profimedia Images
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, was impeached on Tuesday following a historic vote in Congress, falling victim to fratricidal disputes within his party, after a rebellion of pro-Trump elected officials.
“He (Jordan) is STRONG on crime, borders, our military/veterans & Amendment 2. Jim, his wife, Polly, and his family are exceptional – He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House; has my complete and utter support!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social app.
The post follows earlier reports that Trump, the favorite for the 2024 Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, may agree to replace McCarthy for a short time.
Dispute in the Republican Party regarding the election of their new leader of the House of Representatives
Two elected Republicans entered the race for the position of speaker of the House of Representatives: Steve Scalise, second only to McCarthy in the hierarchy of the House, and Jordan, a conservative from Ohio, who led investigations into the Biden administration.
Republicans, who control the House of Representatives by a narrow margin of 221 seats to 212, are set to hold a closed-door forum for presidential candidates on Tuesday, which the former Republican president has said he may attend.
A vote is expected the next day. But the animosity and resentment over McCarthy’s ouster could make appointing a new speaker of the House of Representatives a challenge for Republicans.
Although House rules do not require its Speaker to be a member of Congress, former Republican Representative Barbara Comstock told CNN that Trump is ineligible for the post because he faces criminal charges, according to AFP.
“Unfortunately, he doesn’t know the rules of the House, which say you can’t lead it if you’re indicted,” Comstock said.
Trump can’t run for office because of trouble with the law
Trump, the Republican front-runner for the 2024 presidential election, is due to go on trial in March in Washington. He is accused of maneuvers aimed at reversing the result of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Donald Trump, the first former US president to be criminally indicted, is also being prosecuted in the state of Georgia for attempting to manipulate the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in that state, as well as in New York in a case of alleged accounting fraud related to payments to buy the silence of an adult film actress.
In addition, he is to be tried in 2024 in Florida for the negligent handling of confidential documents after his departure from the White House.
Trump – along with his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. – is also the subject of a civil suit in New York for defrauding the value of his real estate assets.
Tuesday’s meeting at the House of Representatives would be Trump’s first visit to Capitol Hill since his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from certifying his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
