Gaetz Says He's Trying to Persuade Trump to Become House Speaker - Here's How It Could Happen
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida said he’s trying to persuade former President Donald Trump to become speaker of the House of Representatives — if for no other reason than to stick it to the current speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California.
“I just think America deserves that moment when Nancy Pelosi hands Donald Trump the gavel,” Gaetz said Tuesday on “America First,” a radio show hosted by former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka.
Gorka chuckled heartily at the hypothetical scenario floated by Gaetz.
The Florida congressman said he had dined with the 45th president the previous evening and pitched his proposal to him.
“I told him, ‘You don’t even have to be speaker for, like, the whole day,'” Gaetz said.
“‘You could do it for, like, three or four hours, give the great speech, make a few structural reforms to the institution and then you could resign and we could have another election for speaker.'”
Gaetz’s scenario is based on the assumption that Republicans will regain control of the House in the November midterm elections amid President Joe Biden’s tanking poll numbers that are dragging down his party.
As outlandish as the idea sounds, it’s not an impossibility since Trump could become the speaker without even being an elected member of Congress.
All he would need is to be nominated by a member of the House (Gaetz has vowed to do this if Trump were onboard), receive one vote to affirm that nomination and win a majority of the votes from House members who are present and voting, according to “PBS NewsHour.”
If Trump were to become the speaker, he could facilitate the impeachment of Biden. How delicious would that be?
However, Gaetz said that based on his chats with Trump, he did not believe the former president is fully on board with the speakership idea.
“I made the pitch to him,” he said. “And, you know, I don’t know if I’ve fully got him to swallow the hook quite yet, but there’s a lot of time between now and January 2023.”
Since July, Gaetz, an attorney, has repeatedly stated his desire to nominate Trump as speaker.
Rep. @mattgaetz promises that if Republicans take back the House of Representatives, he will vote for Donald Trump as Speaker of the House. pic.twitter.com/GWn8vFZ36u
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 3, 2021
He has since doubled down on his proposal and appears to be leaning into it more seriously.
Gaetz Plan for Speaker Trump Gains Steam! https://t.co/NnivfDDn39
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 28, 2021
However, in a December episode of his podcast, “Firebrand,” Gaetz suggested he was trolling Democrats and the establishment media because they get so triggered whenever he brings up the idea.
It’s unlikely that Trump would want to be the speaker of the House when he’s probably gunning for the top job, which is president of the United States.
The brash billionaire has dropped numerous hints that he plans to run again in 2024 and indicated that he’s buoyed by Biden’s disastrous presidency.
In a statement Tuesday, the 45th president contrasted how America was energy-independent under his watch with what has happened under Biden.
“The U.S. was energy independent under the Trump Administration, an independence that we had never obtained before, and oil prices would have remained low,
Trump. “Now, what a mess our Country is in!”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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