Former US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would support the candidacy of Congressman Jim Jordan for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives in Washington, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, was impeached Tuesday after a historic vote in Congress, the victim of a fratricidal feud in his party following a revolt by pro-Trump elected officials.

“He (Jordan) is STRONG on crime, borders, our military/veterans and Amendment 2. Jim, his wife Polly and his family are exceptional – he will be a GREAT Speaker of the House; has my full and total support!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social app.

The publication followed earlier reports that Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, might agree to fill in for McCarthy on a short-term basis.

The dispute in the Republican Party over the election of a new leader of the House of Representatives

Two elected Republicans entered the race for House Speaker: Steve Scalise, second only to McCarthy in the House hierarchy, and Jordan, a conservative from Ohio who has led investigations into the Biden administration.

Republicans, who control the House by a slim 221-212 margin, are set to hold a closed-door forum for presidential candidates on Tuesday, which the former Republican president has said he may attend.

Voting is expected the next day. But the resentment and resentment over McCarthy’s removal could make appointing a new House speaker a challenge for Republicans.

Although House rules do not require the speaker to be a member of Congress, former Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock told CNN that Trump is ineligible for the post because he is facing criminal charges, AFP reported.

“Unfortunately, he doesn’t know the rules of the House that say you can’t preside over the House if you’re indicted,” Comstock said.

Trump can’t run for office because of legal issues

Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential election, is scheduled to go on trial in Washington in March. He is accused of maneuvering to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Donald Trump, the first former US president to be indicted criminally, is also being prosecuted in Georgia for trying to manipulate the state’s 2020 presidential election, and in New York for alleged accounting fraud related to payments. to buy the silence of the adult film actress.

In addition, he is due to stand trial in Florida in 2024 for negligent handling of classified documents after he left the White House.

Trump, along with his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., are also the subject of a civil suit in New York for defrauding the value of his real estate assets.

Tuesday’s meeting in the House of Representatives will be Trump’s first visit to Capitol Hill since his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from confirming his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.