Local political science expert weighs in on a third Trump term
Trump says he's considering ways to serve a third term as president
President Donald Trump told reporters over the weekend that he is 'not joking' about seeking a third term. He implied that there are other methods to getting him into the oval office for a third time.
Trump says he's 'not joking' about a third term. Republicans insist he is
It is a long shot, but ODU political science professor Jesse Richman said it is technically possible
'There are three possibilities, I think,' Richman. 'One is that he's thinking about a constitutional amendment.'
The President would need support from two thirds of both the Senate and House, along with three quarters of the U.S. states to abolish the 22nd amendment. It is theoretically possible, but not practical. Another method would be to run as vice president.
'Potentially, a president could run as vice president and hope that the new president would be willing to step aside to allow the V.P. to resume significant power in the office, but ultimately be completely at the will of the president,' Richman said.
There would likely be a national debate over how the text is interpreted — if 'elected' also means serve. Adding to this, the 12th amendment states, 'no person constitutionally ineligible' to be president can be vice president.
Another way to get in would be to simply run for president anyway and test the enforcement of our constitution.
'I think it's unlikely with the current composition of the court, that there would be sufficient votes to allow a third election by the president,' Richman said. 'The best hope for the president would be… the court in some way passing responsibility to other institutions to enforce the 22nd Amendment, and then perhaps… pressure sufficient being brought to bear on those institutions to get them to go along with Trump.'
Richman said teasing a third term could be a political strategy to avoid lame duck status during his final term as president.
Republican Senate Majority leader John Thune said earlier this week, he thinks the president is 'messing with' his opponents by saying he is not joking about a third term.
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