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Will Trump Bring Down the Gavel as Speaker?

Stephen Humphreys says that crazier things haven't happened, yet.

Oct 09, 2023
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Former President Donald Trump. Photo: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

We only thought the craziest thing ever seen in American politics was one member of Congress—Matt Gaetz, himself under federal investigation for trafficking underage women—being able to call a vote to bring down the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy. That downfall followed McCarthy’s rise to power by courting Donald Trump’s blessing at Mar-a-Lago only days after McCarthy castigated Trump as responsible for the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

That milestone brought about by the far-right Republican caucus is now in danger of giving way to an even more unheard-of precedent: Donald Trump assuming the role as Speaker of the House.

There are three reasons to think this is a possibility at least as real as Trump’s initial election to the US presidency.

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