🕶️

 Mike Madrid sez:

If you don’t think Trump can get the Republican votes to become Speaker you don’t understand the GOP conference. 

If he wants it - it’s his.

To which George Conway concurs:

Far more than a majority would be terrified to vote against him.

Except, no, the GOP barely has a majority, and Dems would gleefully vote against him.

Lauren Windsor has a catalogue of reasons why Trump would want the job:

Obviously Trump wants to be President. But being Speaker until the election could be advantageous to him for a number of reasons: 

1. nonstop free media coverage 

2. bully pulpit to wage war on Biden admin  

3. could help him to delay his legal battles due to House scheduling

Except Trump already has 1) and 2), and 3) wouldn’t exist because the Speaker ain’t POTUS. Besides, it’s a real job, not just sitting in Parliament in a long wig on a bag of wool shouting “ORDER!” (I know the job in England is more than that, but I doubt Trump even knows where the title comes from.)

The Speaker is literally in charge of the House, and is the only person who can make certain, usually very technical, decisions. Trump will be bored in a few hours, and has already said he only wants the job for a short time. He’d likely quit before Thanksgiving.

There’s also the matter of the rules. No Republican can be in a leadership position if under felony indictment. Sure, they can change that rule. But they need an elected Speaker to do it. Speaker pro tempore exists only to aid the selection of a “real” Speaker. That means Pelosi could fight for her office back; but bad visuals, that. But it also means the Democrats could stage a floor fight over changing the rules without an elected Speaker. And when that’s settled, Trump will have already wandered off again, bored with the delay in his acclamation to the office. Especially if Dems win and the GOP has to elect a Speaker who then puts through the rules change, resigns, and clears the way for Trump.

And then what happens when Trump has to spend January and February in the courtroom down the street? And in all of that, what has the House accomplished? Who would be following that shit except Twitter? Follow that with Trump shutting down the government (45 days go by fast!), and what does the GOP have to show for their MAGA fealty?

Everybody loves a government shutdown just in time for the holidays! Right? (Maybe the GOP can all go to Cancun with Ted Cruz. Certainly gonna be a cold day in hell before they’re popular again.)

Trump thinks this job is about banging a gavel and telling people to jump when he says “Frog!” He won’t last a week in it.

Which yes, all but guarantees a Democratic landslide in November, 2024. More so if he lingers more than a week, and reminds people what utter incompetence in government looks like (the first thing he’d do is shut it all down. Especially after he finds out he can’t defund Jack Smith. The biggest problem would be, he wouldn’t have the competence to open it up again. But it would sure end his electoral ambitions. The man is just not smart.)

Future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. 😎