This evening, around 6:30 pm EDT, Trump, trying ever so much to be helpful, gracefully assented to stand in as Speaker Pro Tem, apparently not realizing that Congress already has one of those, telling F*X News Digital:
“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. They have asked me if I would take it for a short period of time for the party, until they come to a conclusion—I’m not doing it because I want to—I will do it if necessary, should they not be able to make their decision [about the next Speaker].”
This is quite interesting for two primary reasons:
- Trump is not qualified to serve due to the Republican Conference Rules, which disallows anyone in a House leadership position who is also under indictment to serve. In the most favorable circumstances then, he’d show up for work and immediately be required to step aside until his many indictments have been dismissed or have been disposed of through not guilty verdicts. Both unlikely events. (See our article, Trump as Speaker of the House? That’s Not a Thing . . . but It Could Be if God Has A Wicked Sense of Humor)
- Trump, obviously, does not know this. His announcement thereby is nothing less than an embarrassment, at best, or utterly stupid, at worst. I vote for the latter. Twice.
So, unless the GOP revises their rules, Trump’s out of luck. Which poor sod is going to tell him? I nominate Donny Jr.
This makes me want to stick my fingers in my ears and run in circles moaning.