Donald Trump Declines to Endorse Any Candidate in House Speaker Race as House GOP Remains in Turmoil

After three failed rounds of voting on the House floor, former President Donald Trump is so far declining to endorse any candidate as the Republican nominee for House speaker. Trump said Monday that he is aiming to stay out of the race for now, even as some of the contenders seek his backing.

The current state of the House GOP Speaker debacle-ship is reminiscent of the day Denny Hastert became Speaker in 1998. This was in the midst of a scandal involving two former Speakers and Speaker designate, who were forced to resign due to extra-marital affairs. In a rush to safety, Rep. Denny Hastert was elected Speaker essentially by affirmation. Republicans wanted a return to calm and Hastert’s biography and demeanor offered it.

Trump weighed in on the House GOP’s tumultuous effort to elect a new speaker during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, where he filed to run in the state’s GOP primary. However, it is unclear how much of an impact the former president’s backing would have on the race for speaker, as he had previously endorsed Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid last week.

The House GOP is now left without a clear frontrunner for the speaker position, as Jordan was forced to drop out of the race on Friday. It remains to be seen who will be the eventual nominee, and whether or not Trump will choose to endorse a candidate.