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- Donald Trump said that only one person could for sure become the next Speaker of the House.
- That person is Jesus Christ.
- "Other than that I haven't seen anyone that can guarantee it," Trump told reporters.
Former President Donald Trump on Monday said that Jesus could be elected speaker of the House, but the rest of the nine current hopefuls may struggle.
"There's only one person that can do it all the way. Do you know who that is? Jesus Christ. If Jesus came down and said, 'I want to be Speaker,' he would do it," Trump told reporters in New Hampshire. "Other than that I haven't seen anyone that can guarantee it."
—The Recount (@therecount) October 23, 2023
The former president, a noted theologian, said he would not get involved in the speaker's race after he previously endorsed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan.
Republicans dumped Jordan on Friday after he posted the worst performance for a majority party's Speaker candidate since before the Civil War.
Now, nine Republicans are currently official candidates for the post. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is considered the leading candidate, but he has a complicated relationship with Trump. On Monday, Trump gushed that Emmer, is "my biggest fan."
Trump's confidence in Christ belies some House Republicans who have lamented that if Jesus were to return, even he would struggle to unite their fractious group. The GOP holds a narrow majority, meaning any speaker candidate can likely only afford to lose no more than four votes in the face of House Democrats' likely united opposition. Thus far, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Jordan have abandoned campaigns to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
"If Jim Jordan can't get through, Jesus can't. So we better figure this out," Rep. Ryan Zinke, Trump's former Interior secretary, said last week.
Jesus is far from the only hypothetical religious figure that has been offered a lament to House Republicans' struggles.
"I don't know that Mother Teresa could walk in there and get to 217," Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a California Republican, told reporter Ben Jacobs.