Donald Trump, the former President of the United States, has offered to take up the role of speaker of the House of Representatives temporarily, US media reported on Thursday.
Republican Kevin McCarthy was removed this week as speaker in a severe, historic uprising by far-right members of his own party who blamed him for a series of broken pledges and were enraged at his cooperation with Democrats.
Trump told Fox News, “I have been asked to speak as a unifier because I have so many friends in Congress. 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 Barbara Comstock, former Republican congresswoman, told CNN that Trump would not be qualified for the role because he has been accused of criminal offenses.
Comstock said, “Unfortunately, he doesn’t know the House rules, which say if you’re indicted you cannot be in House leadership.”
Trump is slated to go on trial in Washington next year on March for allegedly conspiring to subvert the outcomes of the November 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Other criminal lawsuits against Trump include racketeering charges in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to upend the election outcomes in the southern state and a trial in Florida in May 2024 on accusations of maltreating top secret government documents.
Trump and his two elder sons are also currently encountering a civil fraud trial in New York for inflating the value of their real estate assets to obtain more favorable bank loans and insurance terms.
