“Grotesque violation”: Critics pour cold water on MTG push to elect Trump as new House speaker

Several far-right Republicans say they are backing former President Donald Trump to be the next House speaker following the right-wing coup that ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday. Largely orchestrated by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a group of eight House Republicans led the charge in booting McCarthy from the speakership after he sought Democratic support for the passage of a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown over the weekend. Not long after the removal, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Troy Nehls, R-Texas; and Greg Steube, R-Fla., all called for Trump to replace McCarthy. Trump is the “only candidate for Speaker I am currently supporting,” Greene stated on X, formerly Twitter.

Along with Greene, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, disgraced former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and conservative network Newsmax also began floating the notion of Trump as the new House Speaker not long after McCarthy was ejected, per The Daily Beast. Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close confidante of the ex-president, indicated that he had communicated with a number of GOP lawmakers who were planning to make the move to nominate Trump, saying, “I have been told that Trump might be open to helping the Republican party, at least in the short term, if necessary.” But critics poured cold water on the idea. Sherrilyn Ifill, the former president of the NAACP legal defense fund, warned that electing Trump speaker would “accelerate the 14th amendment Sec 3 showdown” because “Trump returning to the House – the literal scene of the insurrection – to try & serve as Speaker might be an even more grotesque Section 3 violation than trying to be President.” Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., pointed to a GOP conference rule requiring leaders to step down if they are indicted for certain felonies.