Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Tuesday he had spoken with former President Donald Trump about Trump becoming House Speaker should Republicans win control of the chamber in next year’s midterms.
While attending Trump’s Save America rally on July 3 in Sarasota, Florida, Gaetz vowed to nominate Trump to be the next Speaker of the House.
Gaetz was asked during a news conference Tuesday whether he had spoken with Trump about the ex-president becoming speaker.
“I have,” Gaetz said, Forbes reported. The congressman did not elaborate.
The Patriot Depot reached out to a Trump spokesperson for reaction to Gaetz’s comment but had yet to hear back.
The speaker, second in line to the presidency, does not have to be a member of Congress, though every speaker in U.S. history has been.
Following Gaetz’s summer comment regarding Trump, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., introduced a bill that would limit eligibility for the House speaker role to current House lawmakers.
Although Trump associates have said the former president has no interest in being speaker, the idea has picked up momentum among conservative lawmakers such as Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Taylor Greene said she “would love” for Trump to be speaker, and for House Republicans to impeach President Joe Biden, Forbes reported.
Several national surveys — including generic congressional polling — have suggested that Republicans are in prime position to reclaim control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections. The GOP needs to win just five seats to do so.
Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is in line to become speaker in a Republican-controlled House.
Trump has said he has “a good relationship with Kevin [McCarthy] and hopefully we will do everything traditionally.”
However, some conservative House members have been upset with McCarthy for allowing Taylor Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., to get stripped of committee assignments by Democrats without a fight.
Taylor Greene recently said McCarthy currently “doesn’t have the votes” to become speaker if Republicans take back control of the chamber.
“Right now, we know that Kevin McCarthy has a problem in our [Republican] conference. He doesn’t have the full support to be speaker,” Taylor Greene told Gaetz on the Nov. 25 episode of his podcast “Firebrand.” “I think there’s a door open for a challenger.”
On Tuesday, Gaetz also said that conservatives will push to “take power after this next election.”
“When we do, it’s not going to be the days of [former Speaker] Paul Ryan, and [former Rep.] Trey Gowdy, and no real oversight, and no real subpoenas. It’s going to be the days of [Reps.] Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Dr. Gosar, and myself,” said Gaetz, whose comment was tweeted by The Hill.