Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) joined the growing chorus of voices of House Republicans in declaring his opposition to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) assuming the gavel as the next Speaker of the House.
The representative asserted “it will be apparent in coming weeks” who will take the role, and he expressed his displeasure with McCarthy being described as the “speaker-elect.”
Rep. Ralph Norman, who opposes McCarthy for Speaker, says the renegade Republicans have a secret candidate to run against him who is not a House member: “It will be apparent in the coming weeks who that person will be. I will tell you, it will be interesting.” pic.twitter.com/anD60jvNky
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) December 1, 2022
Further, the Freedom Caucus member reminded voters that the House Speaker is not required to be a sitting member of Congress. Norman added, “I will tell you, it will be interesting if everything plays out.”
A National File report revealed the “Speaker Trump” memo made its rounds through the House Freedom Caucus. The paper reportedly detailed an agenda to, as the outlet revealed, “seize back control of the United States, on behalf of the American people.”
The paper considered alternatives to McCarthy for the Speaker’s role and cited the presumed “red wave” in the midterm elections that never materialized.
It more specifically laid out a plan to elect former President Donald Trump as Speaker and gave a line-by-line statement on the legal and constitutional authority of House members to select a non-member as Speaker.
This is hardly the first time that the idea to bring Trump back to Washington as Speaker of the House has been floated. In July 2021, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told a Trump rally that he intended to nominate the former president for the position after the midterm elections.
Not long afterward, Gaetz told reporters that he had discussed the prospect with Trump.
In addition, the “Speaker Trump” memorandum declared that current GOP leadership failed to properly address five key issues in the most recent congressional session.
They included Chinese infiltration in the U.S. government, business, military, and defense organizations, the failure to properly investigate the 2020 presidential election operation, and abuses of 1st Amendment rights.
The memo also bemoaned the hesitancy to have Nuremberg-style military trials over COVID-19 deaths and major vaccine manufacturers. Finally, the Freedom Caucus paper criticized Congress’ failure to find the truth behind Jan. 6 deaths and the treatment of political prisoners from the incident.
Rep. Norman’s firm opposition to McCarthy becoming the next Speaker creates another roadblock in the path of the California representative. His reference to the explosive “Speaker Trump” memorandum only adds fuel to the fire.
