My fellow Republicans pretend Trump is joking about a third term. He's not. | Opinion
Everything Trump says is a 'joke' until he realizes Republicans, and Americans, will let him get away with it.
Perhaps the least surprising headline from the weekend was that President Donald Trump has refused to rule out a third term, even when asked directly about the possibility.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told NBC News of the possibility, later claiming, “There are methods which you could do it.”
Even though the 22nd Amendment bars a president from serving more than two terms, Trump allies are always looking for loopholes for their glorious leader to cling on to his power forever. Conservatives used to care for the law, and this is just another example of that being pushed to the side in favor of Trump's desires.
As a young conservative, I wish we would care about the law again.
Trump is president of loopholes; Republicans won't stop him
Traditionally, Republicans have had an appreciation for the roadblocks against power that are structured within our Constitution and federal government. That appreciation has faded as the GOP has drifted away from the conservative tradition in recent years and has gravitated toward Trump's toxic MAGA movement.
Trump and his allies now treat the government as a nuisance that limits them from acting as they please. In their view, these restrictions can be overcome if they look hard enough for loopholes to serve their ends.
This isn’t the first time Team Trump has embraced searching for alternative ways to cling to power. This is precisely what happened when Trump lost the 2020 election, begging for Vice President Mike Pence to take action using power that he knew he didn’t have to overturn the results.
In fact, Trump’s second term has dealt entirely with tearing down the roadblocks he views as hindering his ability to act. The reality is that these roadblocks are precisely what made Trump’s first term broadly successful from a conservative standpoint. Trump's actions on government, immigration and his fight against the judiciary are all examples of how Republicans are enabling him to remove limitations to his power.
Trump is impulsive, so the more he is forced to work within a system, the better. Now that he has been enabled by the GOP to search for any loophole he can to expand his power, it is likely to end in the political destruction of himself, his party and the rule of law in this country.
This is one large piece of why the Republican Party is no longer conservative. GOP leaders now believe that anything is justifiable in the name of retaining power and advancing their agenda.
Republicans should take Trump seriously. Somebody has to.
"I'm not joking," Trump said of the prospect of a third term.
When people tell you they're not kidding, you should take them seriously.
It might seem as if Trump is trolling here to some, there is little reason to believe that he isn't dead serious about a scheme to bypass the 22nd Amendment.
People who think he's joking haven't been paying attention to any of Trump's words that have come true in recent years.
When Republicans overlooked Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 election, it ended in a violent riot at the Capitol. He wasn't joking. When Republicans overlooked Trump's desire to be dictator for a day, it manifested in his push for expanded executive power. He wasn't joking. When Republicans thought his pursuit of Canada and Greenland as states was just trolling, it became threats of territorial expansion. He wasn't joking.
Republicans would be wise to condemn his quest for a third term before Trump decides to put a ridiculous anti-constitutional plot into motion. They won't, though, just as they have been unwilling to critique much of the lawlessness surrounding this administration. But it would be nice if someone found their misplaced spine over these ridiculous plots.
Everything Trump says is a "joke" until he realizes that Republicans, and Americans, will let him get away with it.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for Paste BN and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.