Raw: [The former president was “50-50″ on coming to D.C. amid the speakership fight. Now, he’s throwing his weight behind the Ohio Republican.]
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POLITICS
Trump endorses Jim Jordan as next House speaker
The former president was “50-50” on coming to D.C. amid the speakership fight. Now, he’s throwing his weight behind the Ohio Republican.
Former President Donald Trump motions to the media as he walks out of the courtroom during a break in his civil business fraud trial at New York Supreme Court, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in New York. | AP
By Meridith McGraw
10/06/2023 01:04 AM EDT
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Donald Trump early Friday announced his endorsement of Rep. Jim Jordan to be the next speaker of the House.
“He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” the former president wrote in a post to his social media site, Truth Social, that praised Jordan’s political record as well as his college wrestling achievements.
News of the ex-president’s endorsement was broken by Fox News’ Sean Hannity and followed by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who posted on social media that Trump had told him in a phone call he would back the Ohio Republican.
Trump’s endorsement of Jordan could help sort out what seems likely to be a tumultuous race for the speakership after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy earlier this week.
Jordan is a close Trump ally and one of the leading GOP lawmakers investigating President Joe Biden. He would be one of, if not the, most conservative members to hold the speaker’s gavel in recent memory should he be elected.
Both Jordan and Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise have begun accumulating support for the speaker role. Jordan has endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign. Scalise, who has served as majority leader under McCarthy, has not.
Jordan, the hardline cofounder of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said on Fox News Thursday night he is confident he can bring together the fractured Republican conference.
Earlier in the day, the Ohio Republican held a call with moderate members of the Main Street Caucus where he addressed concerns about changing the motion to vacate – which was used by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to oust McCarthy – and his ability to fundraise for the party.
Jordan has clashed with GOP leadership in the past, including former Republican speaker John Boehner, who called him a political “terrorist.”
But Jordan, who is chair of the House Judiciary Committee, positioned himself as a staunch defender of Trump, especially during his two impeachment trials. As president, Trump awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was also an ally to McCarthy during his speakership and defended him on the House floor ahead of the vote to oust him.
News of Jordan’s endorsement came as Trump had earlier teased a visit to Capitol Hill next week and even signaled his interest in serving as an interim speaker of the House on Thursday.
Trump told Fox News on Thursday that he would consider being a temporary speaker if needed.
“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,” Trump said. “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.”
Before news of Jordan’s endorsement, two people familiar with Trump’s thinking said he was “50-50” on actually making the trek to the nation’s capital to appear at a House GOP meeting.
If Trump were to appear, those familiar with his thinking said, it would be to “rally the troops” and “show leadership” over a party that is still stinging from the ouster of McCarthy by a small fraction of the GOP. Trump, they said, would encourage the Republican lawmakers to choose their next speaker fast and avoid another protracted and dramatic battle in the House.
They said he was flattered but never serious about entertaining calls to run for Speaker and told reporters earlier this week he remained focused on 2024.
Several House GOP allies of the former president, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Nehls, had publicly floated Trump for Speaker.
Greene on Thursday evening posted on X that Trump “CONFIRMED HE WILL TAKE THE JOB” and even created a website to fundraise off the idea. At least one other Republican, congressional candidate Bo Hines of North Carolina, has sought to raise campaign funds off of the idea of Trump as speaker too.
Trump largely avoided weighing in on efforts to oust McCarthy this week as he was at the Manhattan courthouse for a civil fraud trial, with the exception of a Truth Social post that questioned why “Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our country?”
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