President Donald Trump said in a Sunday-morning phone call that he was “not joking” about a third term, adding that “it is far too early to think about it.”
  • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
    102·
    2 days ago

    He could just refuse to leave. What’s Congress going to do. What’s the Supreme Court going to do?

    • Ioughttamow@fedia.io
      491·
      2 days ago

      Confirm the winner, then they waltz in, take reins of power and arrest him and his cabinet if they refuse; civil war if necessary

    • Diddlydee@feddit.ukEnglish
      241·
      2 days ago

      I’d wager he’ll be dead by then as he seems to survive on McDonald’s, and is clearly not all there.

    • barneypiccolo@lemm.eeEnglish
      121·
      2 days ago

      That what Maduro did in Venezuela, he just refused to leave when he lost the election, and the rest of the government went along with it.

      I thought HitlerPig might attempt that in January 2021, but he really blew ALL of his political capital with his Insurrection. If he had tried to remain in the White House after that, they would have dragged him out in cuffs.

    • just_another_person@lemmy.world
      18·
      2 days ago

      The only thing that keeps a president in power is the threat of the military, and funding. Take both away, and suddenly you’re nothing.

      • TronBronson@lemmy.world
        3·
        2 days ago

        Which is why the continuing resolution was an insane political move by 10 democrats who had already seen the trajectory of consitution violations under way. Never forget. The senate voted to continue this madness instead of defunding him and forcing him to heel.

    • Flic@mstdn.social
      62·
      2 days ago

      @henfredemars @ObviouslyNotBanana at that point the military would surely drag him out because it would officially be a coup, so they’d be bound to do it. And no, putting Pete Hegseth in charge doesn’t mean he’s suddenly captured the whole military. He hasn’t even managed to kick out any LGBTQ+ people yet.

  • IHeartBadCode@fedia.io
    671·
    2 days ago

    NBC News asked about a possible scenario in which Vice President JD Vance would run for office and then pass the role to Trump. Trump responded that “that’s one” method.

    That isn’t a method. At in the sense that Trump obtains the title President. But we’ve seen during this administration that the President can delegate broad authority to others with zero questions.

    So we could have a President who is still the President in name but has passed 99.9% of their duties to Trump who is an “independent contractor”.

    This is quite literally the foundation they’re building with Musk.

      • IHeartBadCode@fedia.io
        34·
        2 days ago

        Yeah. Then Putin took back the role of President using the argument that Medvedev being President allowed Putin to run again despite term limits.

        Medvedev became Prime Minister, then everyone in Parliament resigned all at the exact same time, leaving the President as the only one running the place.

        Putin rewrote the Constitution and that was the end of that.

      • TronBronson@lemmy.world
        11·
        2 days ago

        Lets all remember putler was a healthy man in his 50’s at the time. Not a 82 year old bag of McDonalds. The putin long con isn’t really there due to cheeseburgers and coronary events. Inshallah.

    • barneypiccolo@lemm.eeEnglish
      12·
      2 days ago

      That’s basically what Putin has done, alternating between Prime Minister and President, allowing him to stay in power indefinitely. He’s probably coaching HitlerPig to do the same thing.

      Vance would have to run (and win), with HitlerPig as VP, and then defer most responsibilities to HitlerPig.

      There’s a major problem with this. The biggest reason HitlerPig wants to be president is because he can’t be prosecuted while he is president. SCOTUS gave him immunity superpowers, but that immunity does not extend to the VP. Once he does not occupy the presidency, he can be immediately arrested and prosecuted.

      That depends on a lot of variables such as DoJ cooperation, pardons, etc., but he would still be vulnerable to state charges, prosecutions, and imprisonments. He may think that President Vance will protect him, but what if they all decide that HitlerPig has fulfilled his duties, and he can be thrown to the Blue State wolves, giving them some measure of revenge, taking some of the pressure off the Nazi government.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        1 day ago

        Once he does not occupy the presidency, he can be immediately arrested and prosecuted.

        Yeah, like we did in 2021.

      • RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        5·
        2 days ago

        Trump can’t run for VP, that isn’t a legal loophole. It’d just be a blatant violation of the constitution, for whatever that’s worth.

        • perestroika@lemm.ee
          2·
          1 day ago

          Yes. Anyone who’s barred from running for president, is also automatically barred from running for vice president.

    • Fredthefishlord@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      10·
      2 days ago

      It should be very clearly stated that that is DIRECTLY contradictory to the Constitution still. You cannot be VP if you are ineligible to run for the office.

      • IHeartBadCode@fedia.io
        10·
        2 days ago

        Elon Musk is neither President or Vice President, yet yields a massive amount of power for someone who is just “an independent contractor”.

        This is what I’m getting at. That a JD Vance President and Mike Johnson VP (let’s just say for sake of illustration) could indicate they’re bringing Trump on as a “consultant” and then leave their jobs largely up to him.

        Technically speaking Vance would still hold the title President but Trump would be executing most of the functions.

    • MimicJar@lemmy.world
      4·
      2 days ago

      The problem is that Trump doesn’t need authority, he doesn’t actually do anything. He needs the protections of the title. He allows things to happen and signs documents put in front of him.

      Now if no one is enforcing anything then being an “independent contractor” might enough, but as laws currently exist and the precedent currently being set, he needs the actual title of President.

      • Fandangalo@lemmy.world
        22·
        2 days ago

        He was 94.

        I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, but with the way right wing loves to talk about vampires & adrenochrome, could be more projection. /joking, of course

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
        131·
        2 days ago

        Yeah, but this time his health has taken a nose dive. He is more incoherent than ever. Unfortunately, as is plain as day, people are taking advantage of.

        • reluctant_squidd@lemmy.caEnglish
          16·
          2 days ago

          I remember a few years back the media was saying that Vladimir Putin was on his last days, not long after the Ukraine attacks started. I read it again the other day. I know they are all getting up there in years, but it’s getting harder to tell what’s credible and what’s just wishful thinking.

          • curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            1·
            2 days ago

            If I remember right, it was a cancer rumor with a cancer specialist going e erywhere with him, and there is also a scar on his neck that corroborates that I believe. I dont think it was wishful thinking, just reporting a possibility (from the reporting at least - random people on the internet, different story).

            The more recent one I think is just a comment from Zelensky, so anything there would be wishful thinking as of now, I agree. I’m sure he has intel showing that to be the case, but how accurate it is? I don’t know.

            In the case of Trump, I think there is visible decline, but - and this is my opinion only - its clearly cognitive, which doesn’t mean he won’t survive for a long time. Even as basically a vegetable he could serve his purpose to the right wing.

              • curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                1·
                2 days ago

                Debatable, it might just end up with AI generated Trump-face and a whole lot of pretending he’s still functional while they continue to destroy the country.

                Though yeah, he’d be a better president and human being. Just not sure it would have any positive impact on the rest of us.

          • Bongo_Stryker@lemmy.ca
            1·
            2 days ago

            Maybe you’re right. I just predicted he wouldn’t live through next year, maybe not this year. But is it just my hopefulness?

    • Kairos@lemmy.today
      12·
      2 days ago

      No. Can’t be elected more than twice.

      Okay. New thing: if you haven’t read the US constitution front to back, please do so as soon as you can.

  • stickly@lemmy.world
    18·
    2 days ago

    There are “methods” for preventing it but they shouldn’t be mentioned in polite company.

    • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
      4·
      2 days ago

      Pushing the ”polite company” thing is how the rich have been ripping us off for years.

      I’m supposed to be polite just because these assholes were polite while ripping us all off? Get fucked.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
    133·
    2 days ago

    No there aren’t LOL. The same dumb shit all the time of trying to say factually untrue bullshit and letting others try to justify it for you somehow.

      • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
        7·
        2 days ago

        So… technically speaking… there is a way that may be legally dubious, but it’s not expressly, objectively against the constitution and hasn’t been ruled on in any court. The term limits in the constitution do expressly forbid being elected to more than two terms or more than once if you have served more than half a term that your weren’t elected president (like if you took over as VP after the President dies/resigns like LBJ and Ford). But there is nothing that prevents him from taking a position in the line of succession. He could even run as VP for another candidate. If he did so, even if they said publically that it was their intention for the presidential candidate to resign immediately once taking office and for Trump to become president again, there doesn’t seem to be anything preventing that. It certainly defies the spirit of the law, but not the letter of it.

        Alternatively, suppose the courts did rule that approach illegal. They just move the goal post. He could take the Speakership and be next in line after the VP. He doesn’t even have to win an election to do that. Speaker of the House doesn’t have to be a House Representative. The GOP could nominate him to the house and confirm him without so much as a public poll. Then, should the Republicans win the Presidency, they could simply resign both President and VP and then Trump assumes office again.

        None of that expressly breaks the law. Which is fucking nuts. But they left that loophole open by writing in the language of the amendment not that a person “cannot serve more than two terms as president” but that they cannot be “elected” to more than two. Given that there are many routes the presidency that do not require you be elected to that role, that seems like a glaring omission that only requires a conniving group of conspirers willing to evacuate positions of power for Trump. Will that happen? I don’t know. But can it? It does seem so.

        • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
          81·
          2 days ago

          But there is nothing that prevents him from taking a position in the line of succession.

          The Constitution left the matter of Presidential Succession up to Congress, and Congress set it up in the Presidential Succession act. That act includes clauses that say it only applied to those “eligible to be President” and not to those who have a "failure to qualify* for the office.

          So, simply putting Trump in the line of succession is not enough to get around the Constitutional bar on a third term. He would still be ineligible. There is precedent to enforce this, too: there have been a handful of cabinet secretaries over the years who were not natural-born citizens, and they were not included in the line of succession. Madeline Albright is the one I remember; she was born in Prague and was not eligible despite being Secretary of State.

          With all that said, succession is determined by Congress and I suppose they could just pass a law to do whatever they wanted. They’d have to blow up the Filibuster for it. Would they? It would surely get challenged in court but even if the Supreme Court disallowed it, would Trump listen? The Court would need to find a way to enforce it.

          • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
            2·
            2 days ago

            Right, but the problem is there is nothing that makes him ineligible to be President. The 22nd amendment does not make one unqualified ot be President after serving two terms does it? It says “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Apart from the additional bit about serving a partial term, that’s it. The limitation is on being elected, not serving, and the amendment itself identifies that there is a difference given they use the term “holding” the office when talking about someone being President without being elected. So, frankly, were I a law-as-written kind of judge, I would have to recognize that distinction and rule that the 22nd amendment does not rule out 3rd terms through succession. Unless there is another law or precedent that I’m unaware of, there does seem to be a pretty glaring opening here.

          • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
            31·
            2 days ago

            He is eligible to be President though. That’s my point. He just can’t be elected president again. If he weren’t eligible to be President, why would you be concerned about him becoming President through succession by becoming the Speaker?

    • Nougat@fedia.io
      10·
      2 days ago

      Sure there are. Not legal methods, but when has that stopped them before?

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
    513·
    2 days ago

    I’m a Pro Life Republican who LOVES the Constitution everytime it’s used to DEFEND CHILD MURDERERS and I SUPPORT this Move!

      • HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth
        6·
        2 days ago

        Don’t worry I think his account is being facetious…

        This would be REALLY Corrupt if the Current President, Elon Musk, had PRIVATE Business Interests in focusing on Mars! FORTUNATELY that’s NOT the Case!

        I mean… I could be wrong…

        • HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth
          4·
          2 days ago

          E-exhibit B?

          Dennis Prager, Founder of PragerU which is now being taught to YOUR CHILDREN IN SCHOOL, NEVER spread his Urine at Arby’s!