Trump's Truth Social Photo Goes Viral After He Announces His Willingness to Be Speaker
Before Donald Trump was president, he was a successful businessman and media figure. Part of what made Trump effective in all three of those roles is he understood the power of being unpredictable while simultaneously dropping tantalizing hints about what he might do.
Tuesday’s sudden ouster of Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy created opportunities for Trump. True to form, the former president and leading GOP contender in the 2024 race used hints about mysterious potential actions both to intrigue his supporters and to rattle the swamp dwellers of Washington.
While in the past Trump downplayed his desire to take over as speaker, on Wednesday he seemed more receptive to the idea. The former president not only made a statement that expressed he was open to the idea of becoming the speaker, but he also posted an image of himself in that role on Truth Social.
The post showed Trump in his trademark red MAGA hat, holding aloft the gavel of the House speaker, against a black-and-white backdrop of an American flag.
It wasn’t clear what the source of the image was, but it seems likely it was computer-generated.
The post went viral — with more than 10,000 reposts and 36,000 likes as of Thursday morning — as speculation grew about Trump’s intentions.
This isn’t the first time Trump was discussed as speaker of the House. The subject has arisen numerous times since he was president.
In January, Trump confirmed he would accept the role if elected.
He got some votes during the contentious speaker election at the time, even though he publicly backed McCarthy at the time.
The January votes for Trump as speaker were cast by Rep. Matt Gaetz, the same Florida Republican who filed to motion to vacate the chair that brought McCarthy down.
Now that McCarthy is gone after an often-disappointing tenure, Trump is being mentioned again.
The House speaker does not need to be a member of Congress. Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas announced Tuesday he intends to nominate Trump for the post.
On Wednesday, the former president was asked about it outside a New York courtroom where he is facing a civil fraud claim.
“A lot of people have been calling me about speaker,” Trump said. “All I can say is we’ll do whatever is best for the country and for the Republican Party.”
“Whatever I can do to help with regard to Speaker is good.”
— Donald Trump, at Day 3 of his civil fraud trial in NYC, reacts to some Republicans calling for him to be Speaker of the House following Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) removal pic.twitter.com/A5nuivZjHz
— The Recount (@therecount) October 4, 2023
Ultimately, it is difficult to believe the majority of Republicans in the House could unify around Trump.
Most of those Republicans wanted to stick with McCarthy, despite his failures: Eight GOP representatives joined with the Democrats to oust him.
Trump is aware of this. The Truth Social speaker image might just be another highlight of Trump’s skill at trolling, using controversial words or images to whip up an outraged response.
He also made it clear he remains focused on regaining the presidency.
“So I’m running for president. I’m up by 40 or 50 points, and more in some cases,” Trump told reporters in New York.
“By the way, I’m also leading [President Joe] Biden by a lot. If I wasn’t I wouldn’t have trials like this,” he added, referring to his ongoing civil case.
Trump as speaker never was a really serious conversation until McCarthy was suddenly gone.
Even now, the conversation might not be serious, but it is intriguing, and it gets the people focused on what could happen if we had the right type of leadership in place.
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