Donald Trump has raised concerns once again that he is 'soft launching' the idea of him running for a third time as president, despite this not being allowed under the US Constitution.
The US president is currently in his second term in office, which lasts for four years, and since he was previously in office from 2016 until January 2021, the 22nd Amendment bans anyone from serving more than two terms.
"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice," it reads.
That being said, Trump ally Steve Bannon, a Trump ally has claimed that Trump will be president in 2028 and serve for a third term.
"Well, he's gonna get a third term, so Trump 28, Trump is gonna be president in 2028, and people just ought to get accommodated with that," Bannon told Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, Zanny Minton Beddoe.
To which Beddoe disputed, "What you will end up with, is a populist justification for a quasi dictatorship."
On Monday, a reporter questioned Trump on Bannon's comments, and he appeared to be keen on the idea, noting, “I would love to do it”.
“I haven’t really thought about it. We have some very good people as you know, but I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had,” Trump responded, while travelling on Air Force One to Tokyo,
The president's response has sparked worry on social media with people urging everyone to take this seriously and believe these comments are a way of Trump 'soft launching' what would be a violation of the US Constitution.
"There's are reason they keep soft-launching this you guys," one user wrote, which gained 130,000 likes.
Another similarly wrote, "People will continue to pretend this isn't happening until it's too late," and this gained over 117,000 likes.
Could Trump run as vice president in 2028?
Another question that was put to Trump was whether he would try and find a way around the 22nd Amendment by running as vice president.
From there, he could then have influence over another administration, or ask the president to resign and then return as president for a third time, with this loophole.
Trump said in response that he would “be allowed” to do that, but explained why he wouldn't do this: "I would rule that out because it's too cute. I think the people wouldn't like that. It's too cute. It wouldn't be right."
However, scholars say Trump is barred from running for vice president because he is not eligible to be president, as reported by Reuters.
The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, "No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."
On social media a viral post also pointed this out, calling the move "complete bull****".
"The 12th amendment states that anyone who is ineligible to run for POTUS is also ineligible to run for VP," they posted.
Elsewhere from Indy100, Can Donald Trump actually run for a third term? and the shocking moment Steve Bannon claims people should forget 22nd amendment and get used to Trump 2028.
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