On Monday, former President Donald Trump joked with reporters about the division within the House of Representatives, saying that the only person who could be elected Speaker of the House is “Jesus Christ.”
The House has been without a speaker since Oct. 3, when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed from his seat when eight Republicans, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), sided with all Democrats to vote against him.
Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, was in New Hampshire on Monday to file his candidacy for the state’s Republican primary, which is scheduled to occur in January. Among voters in the state, he leads the field of candidates by nearly 30 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics.
He suggested that only Jesus Christ himself would be able to unite House Republicans and cross the 217 vote threshold.
“You have terrific people. That floor threshold is very tough. I said there’s only one person that can do it all the way. You know who that is? Jesus Christ,” Trump said while visiting New Hampshire on Monday. “If he came down and said, ‘I want to be speaker,’ he would do it.”
“Other than that, I haven’t seen anybody that can guarantee it. But at some point, I think, we’re going to have somebody pretty soon,” Trump added in his remarks.
Trump has referenced Christ in his speeches in political media, and previously posted a sketch of him sitting next to Jesus in a courtroom, presumably on trial, on his Instagram on Friday.
Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) of Missouri’s 4th District, previously suggested that even Jesus couldn’t get 217 votes on the floor, according to NBC News.
The last two nominees from House Republicans, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, both failed to win the position due to opposition from a minority of House Republicans, who need to be almost entirely united due to their four-seat majority in the House.
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