Eric Trump claims Donald will need a ‘bigger gavel’ if he becomes speaker

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Eric Trump has claimed his father Donald Trump will need a “bigger gavel” if he becomes House speaker.

The son of the former president said told Newsmax it would be “the coolest damn thing in the entire world” if his father were to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House of Representatives after he was ousted on Tuesday in a historic move.

“I would make sure he got a bigger gavel than the small little one that they have,” he said, adding that ideally it would be a “huge gavel.”

It comes as House members are scrambling to find a new speaker, with no obvious replacement for Mr McCarthy.

While some Republicans have said they will renominate Mr McCarthy for speaker, other far-right Republican lawmakers including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz have called for Donald Trump to become the next House speaker.

Mr McCarthy has confirmed he will not make another bid for speaker, but Mr Trump has been less clear about his intentions.

On Thursday, the former president claimed that “a lot of people” have asked him about becoming speaker, and said he would do “whatever is best” for the GOP. While the House speaker does not need to be a member of Congress, it remains unlikely that Mr Trump would serve in such a role.

His other son Donald Trump Jr has also floated the idea that his father could become the next speaker of the House.

He posted an illustration on Instagram of Mr Trump dressed in a MAGA hat holding the speaker’s gavel in the chamber.

“Kevin McCarthy is ousted as Speaker of the House and will not be running again,” a caption on the image read.

“Republicans in Congress are nominating Trump to be the next Speaker!”

Don Jr captioned his post: “Thoughts???”

Fox News host Sean Hannity also chimed in on the speculation. He said during his broadcast on Tuesday night that “sources are telling me that some Republicans have been in contact with and has started an effort to draft former President Donald Trump to be the next speaker and I have been told that President Trump might be open to helping the Republican party at least in the short term if necessary”.

In reaction to Mr Hannity’s suggestion, Democratic Rep Sean Casten wrote on X: “I would direct your attention to rule 26(a) of the House Republican Conference rules for the 118th Congress.”

Mr Casten added a screenshot of “Rule 26 – Temporary Step Aside of a Member of Leadership who is Indicted”.

“A member of the Republican Leadership shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed,” it stated.

The former president, who is currently the front-runner in the Republican primary, faces a number of criminal indictments, at the federal level and in state cases in New York and Georgia.