Former US President Donald Trump has floated the idea of temporarily filling the indicted post of Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, was ousted in a historic vote in Congress on Tuesday, the victim of fratricidal strife within his party following an insurrection by Trumpist elected officials.
“I was asked to speak as a mediator because I have so many friends in Congress,” Trump told US broadcaster Fox News on Thursday.
“If they don’t win the vote, since I’m running for president, they asked me if I would consider taking over the presidency until they found someone for a long-term term,” he said.
But former Republican MP Barbara Comstock told US television channel CNN that Mr Trump was not considered for the post because he was facing criminal charges.
“Unfortunately, he doesn’t know the House rules, which say you can’t govern the House if you’re impeached,” Ms. Comstock said.
Mr Trump, the Republican favorite for the 2024 presidential election, faces trial in Washington from March next year. He is accused of maneuvering to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Donald Trump, the first ex-president of the United States to be criminally charged, is also charged in Georgia with attempted manipulation of the 2020 election, as well as in New York with alleged accounting fraud in connection with payments to purchase the silence of a porn actress.
He is also scheduled to go on trial in Florida in May 2024 for negligent handling of confidential documents after leaving the White House.
Mr. Trump, along with his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is also the subject of a civil lawsuit in New York over fraud involving the value of his real estate assets.