Trump: “We may have to go for an extra term."

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This is why I think the possibility of Trump suspending the Constitution and/or dissolving Congress isn't very far fetched.

Nothing is far fetched with him.

That's why I find it incredible when people laugh at the notion he may not willingly leave office should he lose.

There is no "leaving office" upon losing, though. The outgoing President doesn't "hand over" anything to his successor. The ceremony is a formality, the presence of the outgoing President a courtesy. Once the electoral votes are official (and there is little the GOP can do to that process as long as the Democrats control either the Senate or House) the rest is just time passing. At noon on January 20th, the President-elect legally becomes the President, and the former President is a regular citizen, with no more authority than you or me, no matter what he (or she) might claim.

Mr. Trump can refuse to move out of the White House, and he can try to issue orders but that is not "refusing to leave" it is staging a coup. Might Mr. Trump and his immediate supporters try to stage a coup? I find it possible they'd  considerate it, but they really are a pack of incompetent morons, so I doubt it would go well. If the entire Republican leadership rebels against the Constitution and tries a coup to seize power (something that is extremely believable, as they are doing so presently), I think the big determining factor is how the Democratic leadership responds... which is the thing that worries me most about possible futures. 

Democrats, and establishment figures in general, are very reluctant to point out that the emperor is a naked moron leading a cult that is the 21st American equivalent to the Nazis. They continue to normalize the GOP, even when the Republicans and their orange leader are so far out of the ballpark that the captain on the cruise ship is assigning them rooms as they sail over the horizon. If the Republicans (or Mr. Trump and his crime family) attempt a coup, the President needs to immediately treat it as the treason it is and instruct their lawful subordinates to deal with it as swiftly as possible, using whatever force is necessary (subject to the laws of the United States and Geneva Conventions).  Afterward, the perpetrators need to feel the full weight of the law - very long prison terms if possible.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

All Trump supporters: "That's not what he meant!"

All Trump supporters: "Even if he did mean that, it's not fascism."

All Trump supporters: "Even if it's fascism, we're still going to vote for him."

The Democrat party is unfairly criticising Trump when these hypocrites nominated Roosevelt for a 4th term. Are they saying FDR shouldn't have won WW2?

Last time I checked, that was before the 22nd amendment, and under exceptional circumstances.

[T'Chenka]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1171631144414208000?s=20

Absolutely disgusting. Impeach the motherf___er or 25th amendment NOW.

[Virginiá]

His term will end on Jan 20th whether or not he likes it or not . The new President can just order the Secret Service to escort Trump out of the White House and have him arrested for trespassing if he doesn’t leave .

In Trump's mind, what you said sounds reasonable. You know, Jan 20th, 2029.

[Joe Republic]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1171631144414208000?s=20

TBF this will be actually be a legitimate possibility, assuming he loses next November.

Well, besides the highly advanced dementia, of course.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

He is too overconfident, the GOP won in a red state like NC and the EC map doesnr even go thru NC, it goes thru rust belt. Trump, it goes thru blue America, your reelection, not red state America

[Dr. Arch]

He is too overconfident, the GOP won in a red state like NC and the EC map doesnr even go thru NC, it goes thru rust belt. Trump, it goes thru blue America, your reelection, not red state America

 

[Xing]

This is the sort of thing Trump might say half jokingly, but might also be checking to see how his supporters react, and if his supporters like the idea enough, it'll start to become less and less of a joke.

[We Live in Black and White]

And he'll get it. The Nazis perpetuating all the shootings in America are going to mobilize eventually.

Just the future Republicans always wanted.

[MarkD]

As I think about the Bush v. Gore decision, it doesn't seemed too far-fetched that the team of Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh would find some way to "rule" that Trump COULD run for a third term.

[Middle-aged Europe]

First thing that came to mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI6SrGXoYQs


When fiction becomes reality.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

The 22nd Amendment should be repealed.  It has the unwanted side-effect of making a 2nd term President something of a 4 year lame duck.  It was repealed by conservatives, oddly enough, at a time when they were able to elect a President more popular than FDR (Eisenhower).

The two-term tradition was a very powerful tradition in American politics for decades.  It's why TR didn't get nominated in 1912.  It's why only the extraordinary circumstances of the Depression and WWII allowed FDR a 3rd and 4th term.  There was no good reason for the 22nd Amendment, although I do wonder if, with mass media what it is today, the two-term tradition would regain the force it once had.

[Pericles]

Tbh, the 22nd Amendment was a bad idea imo. Term limits should be imposed by the electorate if they so choose, not by the Constitution. Regardless, I hope Trump is a one-term President, and definitely not a three-term President.

[Inmate Trump]

All Trump supporters: "That's not what he meant!"

All Trump supporters: "Even if he did mean that, it's not fascism."

All Trump supporters: "Even if it's fascism, we're still going to vote for him."

The Democrat party is unfairly criticising Trump when these hypocrites nominated Roosevelt for a 4th term. Are they saying FDR shouldn't have won WW2?

Apples and oranges.

When FDR ran and won a 4th term, presidents were not limited to two terms.  That was a tradition only, but now it's in the Constitution.

Trump (and most Republicans) would love to shred the Constitution in order to get what he wants.

[Inmate Trump]

Republican voters who know of this and vote for Trump anyway are the equivalent of Germans in the 30s saying Hitler was all talk and won't actually do something against the Jews.

Then when concentration camps open and Jews are dying, Republicans voters are equivalent to Germans at the time either looking the other way or ignoring what's right in front of them...if not outright supporting what's happening.

[McNukes™ #NYCMMWasAHero]

Does everyone here realize he would have to amend the Constitution for this?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1171631144414208000?s=20

Absolutely disgusting. Impeach the motherf___er or 25th amendment NOW.

Mr. Trump is just saying he would prefer to leave office in a casket, rather than a golf cart.

We should not give him his wish. He should leave in a back of a police car, headed for life-long incarceration.

[Former President tack50]

Tbh, the 22nd Amendment was a bad idea imo. Term limits should be imposed by the electorate if they so choose, not by the Constitution. Regardless, I hope Trump is a one-term President, and definitely not a three-term President.

Eh, I disagree. One of the clear steps to know a country is heading towards dictatorship is the abolishment of term limits (or trying to do so). Just look at places like Venezuela (Chávez tried to abolish term limits in 2007 but failed; was later successful in 2009) or more reciently Bolivia (Evo Morales tried to abolish term limits in 2017 but failed; though that referendum was overturned reciently by the Supreme Court there iirc)

Repealing the 22nd Amendment would be one of the clearest steps towards making the US a dictatorship.

[Sir Mohamed]

Won't happen anyway. Even if he somehow wins the EC in 2020 again, by 2024 the country will be even more tired of this clown and sh*tshow than it's already now. If he wins again next year, I expect his numbers to drop like a rock very quickly and 2022 will be an absolute bloodbath for the GOP.

Also, prez loses authority the day his terms expired and if necessary, the Secret Service will escort him from the WH. Anyway, by 2024, Mr. Trump will be totally senile.

I think term limits are a good thing, because from time to time, new leadership is healthy. We actually need term limits in congress as well.

[Slander and/or Libel]

This is why I think the possibility of Trump suspending the Constitution and/or dissolving Congress isn't very far fetched.

Nothing is far fetched with him.

That's why I find it incredible when people laugh at the notion he may not willingly leave office should he lose.

His term will end on Jan 20th whether or not he likes it or not . The new President can just order the Secret Service to escort Trump out of the White House and have him arrested for trespassing if he doesn’t leave .

Which is why 1) in 2020/2021, the GOP's project will be nonstop sowing of chaos over who the actual victor of the election is, so it's unclear whether power is to be transferred on January 20, and 2) given the chaos of 2020/2021, the GOP will attempt to take measures to delay elections while they sort out how to fix our completely compromised and unreliable electoral systems.

This is speculative, obviously. But I'm not nearly as sure it's fiction as I'd like to be.

[President Johnson]

Well, Donny, it looks like there won't even be a second term. You're down in the polls by massive numbers and your voter coalition is shrinking by the day.

[Kingpoleon]

FDR literally did this in 1940 and 1944, and rigged the 1940 DNC like some sort of mobster boss to “organically” “draft” him. There’s nothing wrong with discussion of repealing the 22nd Amendment.

[Pericles]

Tbh, the 22nd Amendment was a bad idea imo. Term limits should be imposed by the electorate if they so choose, not by the Constitution. Regardless, I hope Trump is a one-term President, and definitely not a three-term President.

Eh, I disagree. One of the clear steps to know a country is heading towards dictatorship is the abolishment of term limits (or trying to do so). Just look at places like Venezuela (Chávez tried to abolish term limits in 2007 but failed; was later successful in 2009) or more reciently Bolivia (Evo Morales tried to abolish term limits in 2017 but failed; though that referendum was overturned reciently by the Supreme Court there iirc)

Repealing the 22nd Amendment would be one of the clearest steps towards making the US a dictatorship.

Just because countries without term limits can be dictatorships does not mean no term limits is necessarily a slippery slope to dictatorship. If someone is doing a good job they shouldn't be arbitrarily forced to leave office. FDR winning a third and fourth term was a good thing after all. There are plenty of long serving and successful democratic leaders.

[BlueSwan]

How about this possibility: Trump, knowing that he will lose in nov 2020, cooks up some national emergency to cancel the entire election.

[Badger]

All Trump supporters: "That's not what he meant!"

All Trump supporters: "Even if he did mean that, it's not fascism."

All Trump supporters: "Even if it's fascism, we're still going to vote for him."