Donald Trump: President for Life?
When Donald Trump heard that Xi Jiping would be President of China for life, he said, "I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday." Was he telling the truth for once?
Our two-term limit does not go back to the Founding Fathers: it arrived only in 1947 with the 22nd Amendment. It has had detractors ever since. Ronald Reagan endorsed repeal, as did Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell.
And can we be sure that clever Congressional Republicans could not find a way short of repeal to allow Donald Trump a third term, and a fourth? They could start by postponing the 2020 presidential election, a common tactic of autocrats. A June 2017 survey found that 52% of Republicans would support postponing the 2020 election if Donald Trump said it was necessary to ensure that only eligible citizens voted.
Given vote suppression, gerrymandering, and court packing, can anyone be confident that if Donald Trump wins in 2020, he will be limited to two terms? Should you have that confidence, then just ask yourself what the response from the enthralled Republicans at the State of the Union speech would have been had he asked, "After I serve my second term, should I run for a third?"