The 22nd Amendment

[Chasstev365]

Instead of playing along, a reporter needs to ask Trump this:

"Mr. Trump: the 22nd Amendment reads as follows:"

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once."

"So explain to us exactly how and why you would eligiblable to run for a third term?"

Let him make up some crazy response so more people can see he is clearly fucking nuts!

[Walleye]

1. He doesn't understand, because he gets away with violating the constitution every day.he thinks, why should he stop now?

It’s not like the Republicans are going to impeach him or anything

[Towlie]

41. NPR: Trump is 'not joking' about third term.

Trump is 'not joking' about third term, though Constitution says he can't serve

This is a rare case where Trump is actually telling the truth. He might even go as far as starting a war to justify a "don't change horses in midstream" argument.

[Walleye]

42. Yet, his fellow Republicans pretend he's not maniacally delusional

[Skittles]

51. he is behaving like he KNOWS he would "win"

why is that?

[Tickle]

2. This is done to keep us angry

He knows there's no third term, but why not own the liberals. He's playing us

[SKKY]

10. Bingo! It's a distraction from what they're really doing...

...or trying to do anyway.

[allegorical oracle]

18. Yep-- and so is the notion of adding his ugly mug to Mt. Rushmore. nt

[Tickle]

19. Jesus H Christ

imagine living with his head on a mountain top reminding us everyday that "he did this".

[Lonestarblue]

22. I don't believe this is solely to play the libs.

Trump has given the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 leaders free reign to do whatever they want to change the federal government into one solely for wealthy white people and catering to the beliefs of the religious right. He is their useful puppet, and I think they are searching for ways to extend his presidency with a thin veneer of legality. There are a lot of right-wing extremist lawyers in that group who are willing to ignore the law or bend it into pretzels to achieve their goals.

The 20th Amendment specifies when presidents take office and leave. “Section 1: The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.”

The assumption is that a national election has been held, but Congress has the power to change election dates. If we assume that Republicans hold the majorities in both houses in 2028, they could pass a law changing the presidential election year to 2029. Would it hold up in court? Maybe not, but that might depend on who Trump appoints to the Supreme Court to replace Thomas and Alito. He will force them out to replace them with much younger extremists.

The assumption that Republicans could still hold both houses of Congress may seem far-fetched, but Trump winning all swing states in 2024 was equally far-fetched and we still do not know whether votes were rigged.

Trump will be 82 at the end of his term, not too old to be prosecuted for old and new crimes. He will do anything to avoid that. There is no legal basis for using martial law for delaying an election, but simply ignoring the law would not be unusual for this bunch.

[elocs]

38. Trump may say or imply that it's a third term, but his intentions are greater than that.

But old age, obesity, and a crap diet are quickly catching up with him and they will not slow from year to year. He will be 82 in 2028 and time will not stand still for him.

[Meowmee]

55. Wrong imo

He already planned and executed an insurrection to block a valid election, and with the help of elunatic bought/stole another one, all of which he got away with. He and his band of crooks and traitors will do whatever it takes to keep him in power.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. The only exception to this rule was Gerald Ford after the 22nd Amendment was ratified in 1951.

AS VP to Richard Nixon, he happened into the role of President in August of 1974 when Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal and it investigative findings that would lead to Impeachment and Conviction.

According to the 22nd Amendment, Gerald Ford was eligible to run for 2 terms of his own had he won in 1976 against Jimmy Carter. There is NO way tRump can run for a 3rd term, being that he is serving his 2nd already, having duly been elected to both. He is bullshitting the people into thinking he can, when it is clearly written that he cannot.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the ONLY person to have served 3 full terms and died while into a 4th. He was the right man for the time in American History where the United States would have fallen off the map during a Great Depression and a World War.

[BumRushDaShow]

20. And remember how Ford got there

It was because of this odd fellow -



So Ford was NEVER "elected" to either the Office of the Vice President *or* the Office of the President.

(and as a note - when scanning around for the above pic I noticed a big pile of pics out there pairing or juxtaposing 45's pic with Agnew's pic )

[whopis01]

25. Ford was no exception and would not have been eligible for a third term under the 22nd

He assumed office August 9th, 1974.
That term ran through January 20th, 1977.
That would have been just shy of 2 years and 5 months in office.

According the the 22nd:
"no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once."

So Ford would have only been eligible to run in one election according to the 22nd amendment.

LBJ, on the other hand, did serve a partial term and was eligible for two elections after it. He assumed office November 22, 1963 for a term that ended January 20th, 1965. So there were less than two years left. He won his first election as President and ran a second time, but dropped out prior to the primary being decided.

[William Seger]

4. Need the 12th Amendment, too

There's a bit of a loophole in the 22nd: "elected" to the office of the President. RWNJs are saying that means if he's elected as Vice President, he can take over if the elected President resigns. The 12th Amendment is the one that says, "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

[Happy Hoosier]

49. They will argue (and I've actually heard this)

that while he would be ineligible to be ELECTED to the office of President, he IS eligible to HOLD the office of President. Thomas and Alito would no doubt agree.

[William Seger]

50. That's the 22nd Amendment "loophole" I mentioned

... since it says "elected" to the office. The 12th specifically says if you're not eligible for the office of President, then you're not eligible for the office of Vice President, either.

[GoCubsGo]

5. It's hard for the media to ask him that,

when he only allows the ones who are his toadies to have access. But, that being said, I'd love to hear his answer, as well.

[Shipwack]

6. One theory I've heard floated:

The 22nd only forbids consecutive terms adding up to 8 (or 10 in some cases). The claim is that 3 terms are allowed if they are non-consecutive.

Now, this obviously goes against the plain language of the amendment. Unfortunately, we have already seen that the Supreme will ignore the literal plain language interpretation when it suits them.

A second theory is for the low information magat. At rallies and friendly media outlets, Trump has thrown out the idea that because of all the investigations and impeachment hearings, he "deserves" a do-over for his first term because... (waves hands) REASONS.

[William Seger]

24. We deserve a do-over on impeaching the MFer

... because reasons: he is the most corrupt and dishonest president, ever.

[J_William_Ryan]

7. "So explain to us exactly how and why you would eligiblable to run for a third term?"

This assumes Trump and Republicans will obey the 22nd Amendment.

Trump could simply ignore the 22nd Amendment the same way he ignores the courts and the rest of the Constitution – indeed, there may be no Constitution come 2028.

[kkmarie]

36. And another question

Comrade Krasnov exactly how many fuckin years do you think you have left?

[loquacious]

8. He'll Just Abolish It

He and the VP are currently persuading the Governors of red States to enable a Constitutional Convention, which will allow him to rewrite the whole document like it was on an Etch-a-Sketch.

Along with the first, fourth, and fifth Amendments, you can be pretty sure 22 will be scheduled for time in the crosshairs.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

43. Welcome to DU

[marble falls]

45. Right, because it's just that easy. And Texas and Alaska are leaving the Union, too.

[Skittles]

57. he also seems mighty certain he would "win"

why is that?

and if ANY amendment needs to be rewritten, it is the 2nd - so even gun humping fucking MORONS can understand it

[LaMouffette]

9. Yikes. I just thought of a third reason Rump could & would use: "I was never elected president! I STOLE both elections!

That means I could run for a THIRD and a FOURTH term!!!"

And, yes, the Supreme Court would let Rump get away with it.

[Hornedfrog2000]

11. He has floated getting rid of term limits before.

He is dead serious, just like the "presidents" of russia and china changed their laws to allow them to stay for life.

[Shrek]

12. Anyone can become President without being elected

• Republicans win election in 2028
• Vice President resigns
• Trump nominated and confirmed as new VP
• President resigns
• Trump ascends to Presidency

At no point in this scenario is Trump elected to any office, so the 22nd amendment is irrelevant.

[Wiz Imp]

31. Completely wrong. The 12th amendment prohibits it.

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

The 22nd amendment says he is constitutionally ineligible to be President so the 12th amendment makes him ineligible to be Vice President.

[Shrek]

44. Nope

The 22nd says he is ineligible to be elected President.

It says nothing about becoming President by some means other than election.

[Bettie]

13. Here's the problem:

for his entire life, rules or laws have never applied to him in any real way.

He has never seen real consequences for anything he's ever done, so it doesn't even occur to that giant gasbag that he can't do something.

Same with the muskrat.

[Wiz Imp]

33. Right. So why would he ignore the constitution just to go through another election?

He would just declare himself President for life instead. No reason to ever go through another election.

[Bettie]

35. I think he likes the illusion of

it all. He loves the "reality show" of campaigning.

But, honestly, who fucking knows what ricochets around in that empty melon of his?

Just existing in this country is exhausting and depressing these days.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. He WAS asked that

Not that directly, but his response was that he wasn't going to say what ways he would use. Then the reporter suggested some kind of dodge with Vance running for pres with tRump as vp and Vance stepping aside for tRump, but I am told that he would be ineligible to run for vp. tRump said yeah that's one of the ways but he wasn't going to talk about any of them.

[radical noodle]

29. He could be appointed speaker of the house

and then the elected president and vice president could step down.

[WOLFMAN87]

15. To make yourself feel better...

Keep saying it can't happen here.
The act surprised when it does!

He is a lawless con man who has angry followers, and none of them care about laws or the constitution.

The corruption is out of this world right now, he's already tried a practice coup, & we teeter on constitutional crisis daily, but it can't happen here

Mark these words: It's going to happen if he lives 4 more years.

[birdographer]

27. That last is the tricky part for him

I will be surprised if he lives another 4 years.

[al_liberal]

16. Keeping the grift going.

Just like an 80s televangelist, he’ll keep spouting this shit so his cult keeps sending him cash.

[BlueTsunami2018]

17. Goes hand in hand with the 12th.

The 22nd makes him ineligible.

The 12th reads quite clearly.

“… But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”

So, there’s no electing the asshole to the Vice Presidency and then handing the Presidency back.

[Hornedfrog2000]

21. Laws literally do not matter.

He will flat out ignore the laws, he will cheat, lie, steal to remain in power. Anyone who thinks he is leaving is kidding themselves. I 100% believe he will not leave power unless by physical force.

I think they already cheated us out of the election. I have never seen very many of his supporters. Kamala seemed to have. A lot more support than he did. When shit doesnt add up...

[melm00se]

23. geez

Let's learn something today:

Trump's communication style, rhetoric and Candance are all built around Marhall McLuhan's Theory of Information Overload with a hefty dose of grifter ledgerdemain.

McLuhan posited that when a person is overloaded with information they shutdown and become passive. Basically keeping the hits coming and coming and coming and the majority of people begin to shutdown. The parts of his audience that do not fall for that by repeating his messaging with a tone of outrage adding sheer volume of information driving people deeper and deeper in their sennesence.

Additionally, Trump uses his outrageous comments and claims to distract people from some other action that he is or shortly will take. This allows the action to take place in the shadows while everyone is looking at the shiney object he is shaking over here.

I am not sure how to overcome this but I am sure that someone will have a V-8 moment and suggest something.

[Wonder Why]

26. Easy to do. Vance wins as president with donnie as his running mate then donnie makes

Vance resign.

Think it's impossible? So was donnie beating Kamala.

[Wiz Imp]

34. Goes against the 22nd AND the 12th amendments.

He's ineligible to ever serve as President OR Vice President again.

[4th]

28. He's trolling.

Spouting off about a third term is legal.
No issue unless he actually tries it.

My guess is JD is being groomed for the job.

[AllaN01Bear]

30. he dosnt care.

[Wavelight]

32. Doubt his nefarious goals

… at your own risk.

This is another situation where everyone will have a delayed reaction to the whiplash that just occurred. So many were convinced that he would never win reelection, that he would be in jail, etc. Well, here we are…

[IronLionZion]

37. By having GOP control the courts and congress of course

so who's going to stop him?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

39. Tamping down the third term hype for Trump (good legal analysis as to why trump cannot run for third term)

Believe or not, this issue was discussed a while back when there were discussions about Bill Clinton running as vice-president on a Gore-Clinton ticket. The thought was that Gore would resign after the election and President Clinton could serve a third term. This concept was discussed and rejected.

The three ways that trump could run for a third term (i) a constitutional amendment, (ii) trump running as vice president and then have his running mate resign and (iii) trump becoming speaker of the house and then the POTUS and Vice President resigning.

A constitutional amendment is not likely. https://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3380306 It is unlikely that such an amendment could get through congress much less be ratified by the required number of states.

The third option has so many variables that it is also unlikely. trump would have to be appointed/elected as Speaker and then both the POTUS and the VP resign. This option does not have the 12th Amendment issue but has so many variables that it is unlikely

The 12th Amendment is clear that no one can run as VP if they are not eligible to run as POTUS. I agree with the legal analysis set forth below.

https://bsky.app/profile/derektmuller.bsky.social/post/3llmjzwnvdc2l

Link to tweet

https://electionlawblog.org/?p=149214

As I told the Associated Press:

Derek Muller, a professor of election law at Notre Dame, noted that the 12th Amendment, which was ratified in 1804, says “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”

Muller said that indicates that if Trump is not eligible to run for president again because of the 22nd Amendment, he is not eligible to run for vice president, either.

“I don’t think there’s any ‘one weird trick’ to getting around presidential term limits,” Muller said.

In addition, pursuing a third term would require extraordinary acquiescence by federal and state officials, not to mention the courts and voters themselves.

He suggested that Trump is talking about a third term for political reasons to “show as much strength as possible.”

Now, there’s no question there is potential constitutional ambiguity here, as Professor Brian Kalt has discussed. But scholars like Professor Michael Dorf a quarter century ago were bolstering the idea of a Gore-Clinton ticket in 2000:

Thus, if Clinton were to be elected Vice President, and ascend to the Presidency based on, for example, Mr. Gore’s resignation, then nothing unconstitutional would have occurred. Clinton would have been elected to the Presidency only twice — though he would serve as President thrice. Under the Twenty-Second Amendment, that is perfectly permissible.

. . . But in seeking the Vice-Presidency — a job, in John Nance Garner’s unforgettable phrase, “not worth a bucket of warm spit” — Clinton would hardly be bidding for dictatorial powers.

Similar claims were made by Professor Brian Gray and elsewhere. But in my earlier scholarship, I found this interpretation weaker than the one advanced by Matthew Franck:

It follows from the 22nd Amendment that Bill Clinton, being “constitutionally ineligible” to be elected president, is ineligible to become president by another route. He is, in short, ineligible to be president, and therefore ineligible to become vice president under the 12th amendment.

I agree. But it’s worth noting that if–and I think it’s still a big if–such a gambit arose, there are tremendous complexities in its implementation. Not the least of which is the fact that after Trump v. Anderson, I believe the Court expressly left open the opportunity for states to review qualifications of presidential (and vice-presidential) candidates outside of the 14th Amendment and exclude candidates on that basis. Vice presidential nominations and ballot access deadlines for them occur in late summer, giving an exceedingly truncated window for review–and, frankly, one that may leave a major party without a vice presidential candidate on the ballot in several states with the approval of the United States Supreme Court. (Setting aside, of course, the will power of someone like J.D. Vance relinquishing the presidency.)

I really enjoy Professor Hasen's election law blog. This article made me smile.

Finally, I doubt that trump will live long enough for these options to be necessary.

[republianmushroom]

40. When you own and have the US supreme court in your ocpket

anything is possible.
Immunity for one, remember "No man is above the law" proven false via trump with courts blessing.

[marble falls]

46. His rationalization, from what I've heard, is: run as VP and have the POTUS resign after he's ...

... sworn in. I don't believe he has the trust required to pull it off. I'd be surprised if Melania doesn't have to step in soon to become a shadow President as Mango Jebus starts transitioning from catsup smeared walls to poop smeared walls, ala Nancy Reagan and Ronnie. Ronnie/Donnie? Co-inkydink? I think not.

[GoodRaisin]

47. Hopefully he'll be dead so we don't have to endure another coup attempt by him

because a coup is what it would entail. Krasnov has no constitutionally legal path to another term no matter how much he and hos cult members talk about it or the media sane washes the idea. The entire idea is bullshit and the media needs not to push it. But they will.

[marble falls]

48. I don't want to speculate on the length of anyone's string. IF I were a betting man, I'd bet ...

... the odds. He doesn't take very good care of himself. And no one around him seems to give a hoot about him.

[Norrrm]

52. 'Because I say so.'

[Chasstev365]

56. Exactly!

Make him say in on TV.

[AntiFascist]

53. If the Supreme Court allows him to do it, then we're done for! n/t

[Meowmee]

54. The media for the most part is largely responsible

for a dictator murderer(of over one million Americans) who is trying to destroy the country, our democracy and world democracy rising to power, not once but twice.

You would think they would get a clue, but no, they don't. Largely I think because they made money off of it and also some of them think it's ok and or want to keep their high salaries/jobs etc.