If Trump can run for a third term in 2028, then Obama can too.
Progressive journalist Brian Beutler says, “Since the rules are out the window, maybe Barack Obama wants to run again!”
He would be instantly popular with the Democratic base, and probably a shoo-in against Trump, who by then will be a doddering 82-year-old.
Even before Trump begins his second term, Beutler sees him as “an old, tired, and manipulable lame duck, and an “unusually weak” president destined to “look small” on the international stage (read story here, and Beutler’s comments here).
Beutler views Trump as an extortionist who’ll use federal authority to enrich himself, and a bumbler who risks “dying a pariah” if he “unleashes war or economic calamity or social collapse, or even just bungles a national emergency,” which Beutler believes are “all real possibilities.”
The 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two terms, and so far Republicans aren’t openly repudiating the Constitution, although they’re trying to subvert it. They’re arguing the 22nd Amendment only limits presidents to two consecutive terms (which isn’t what it says; read the actual language here).
But Republicans are withdrawing from the social contract across the board, and open repudiation of the Constitution may not be far away. That’s essentially what their support of Trump’s election lies, and Jan. 6 rioters, is. They’re assaulting our binding social ties with power grabs, election denialism, attacks on the judiciary, and threats of “civil war.”
It’s not hard to visualize how Trump could run for a third term. The Supreme Court, building on its insurrection disqualification ruling, would simply say the states have no authority to keep him off the ballot, and Congress hasn’t enacted an enforcement mechanism, so the term limits provision is unenforceable.
But Trump won’t serve a third term. Even if the Constitution can’t term-limit him, because Republicans don’t respect the Constitution and the Supreme Court won’t enforce it, nature will term-limit him. Me, I think Trump will by lucky to make it through his second term