Summary

Trump joked about running for a third term during a speech to House Republicans at a retreat in Florida, despite the two-term limit imposed by the 22nd Amendment.

His remarks drew laughter, but they come amid a proposal by Rep. Andy Ogles to amend the Constitution to allow Trump a third term, though the measure has not advanced.

Trump has made similar jokes before, calling it “fake news bait,” while GOP lawmakers like Sen. Mike Lee dismissed the possibility due to constitutional barriers.

  • futatorius@lemm.ee
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    3 hours ago

    Trump has no sense of humor. His “jokes” are punching down or attention-seeking.

    I just wish nature would take its course, since that seems the only way justice will be done.

  • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org
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    3 days ago

    If there’s something everybody should have learned about Trump at this point is: if he says something, believe him.

    This wasn’t a joke. He’s testing the waters. If whatever he throws doesn’t stick, he says it’s a joke. If it does, he runs again for a third term for real eventually.

    Just like a randy guy who flirts with a woman in a bar and says “Can you imagine if you and I had sex in the bathroom right now?” and if the woman doesn’t say yes outright, goes “Ah ha! Just a joke…” The truth is, he really wants to have sex.

  • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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    2 days ago

    These “jokes” are so unbelievably inappropriate for someone in that position to be making. If this was a joke then he would apologise for making such an insanely inappropriate joke but it’s not a joke. He knows it, we know it.

    • theparadox@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      While it’s not nothing to joke about such things Trump is, intentional or not, a grand master of generating outrage around less meaningful words and actions while work is performed in the background that should really be getting more attention.

      It might be on purpose or it might be that he’s just being deployed by those manipulating things in the background. He doesn’t give a shit so long as he keeping growing his power, money, attention , and fame.

  • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    It’s not a joke.

    Just as it wasn’t a joke when he started talking about running the first time.

    Thinking he was a joker or a joke is how we got here.

    • Dragomus@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Oh it’s definitely not a joke, repeat it enough and people can get used to the idea.

      It’s how his whole campaign is built, spout outlandish things that the opposition assumes is funny and does not take seriously enough to stop it early on.

      In about 2 years the Trump camp will begin making statements like “we need extra time to finish the job” … “what say you, another term to make america even greater?” … “A 3rd term? We can make it happen for Americans” … “The right man for the job!”

      And by the time the next election season is supposed to begin he has been given his legal mandate to stay on indefinitely and is allowed to appoint a successor when he deems necessary…

    • douglasg14b@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I mean, there’s already a congressman that has raised legislation to amend the constitution to allow for a 3rd term…

  • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Is it still a joke if they’re laughing at the American people that would likely roll over and accept him running for a 3rd term (like they accepted an insurrectionist running)?

  • Ech@lemm.ee
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    3 days ago

    “Hahaha, funny right? …unless 👉👈”

    Just gotta say it at least the once - I fucking called it.

  • frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io
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    3 days ago

    Constitutional barriers failed once. No troglodyte-operated state GOP would even blink at ignoring further violations to put him on the ballot again and because there’s no functional system to stop them once it’s started, there really aren’t any barriers except the limits of the human lifespan.

    • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      That’s pretty much what I keep thinking. The law hasn’t caught up to Trump yet and likely never will. If the rest of the GOP were watching and paying attention to other dictators, they’ve learned a new phrase to justify breaking all the rules: who’s gonna stop us?

    • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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      3 days ago

      The wording is such to explicitly block Obama.

      Because they all know that Obama would easily kick Trump’s ass at the polls, no matter how they rig it.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        no matter how they rig it.

        I’m sure they’d be up for the challenge. I mean, these are the Republicans we are talking about.

    • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      Nope, they worded it to exclude anyone who was president twice in a row. The only upshot is that we might die from whiplash looking at all these current events.

    • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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      3 days ago

      If they pull this off what makes you think there will be a democracy for Obama to compete in?

    • Chainweasel@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      The wording of the bill specifically bans Obama.
      According to the bill you can have more than two terms as long as your first two terms weren’t consecutive.
      So, you can be president forever as long as there’s a gap between your first and second terms, Obama served his first and second terms consecutively so he’s disqualified from having any more terms. Same with Bush and Clinton.

      • dhork@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        That bill has zero chance of becoming an amendment in the normal process. It needs a 2/3 majority in each House, plus 3/4 of the states to sign on. So the text of the bill will never, ever be relevant.

        What has been happening instead is that Trump just ignores the law and Constitution when it suits him, and makes up some bullshit legal excuse, knowing that if it makes it up the SCOUTS he has stacked the deck there.

        At least the two most recent rulings (immunity and insurrection) had some legal nuance that justified attention from the SCOTUS, though. Any attempt by Trump to run again, without a Constitutional amendment allowing it, should be laughed out of court. But pay close attention to forthcoming rulings on birthright citizenship. That position is equally absurd, as Trump is relying on legal theories which pre-date the 14th Amendment, so they should no longer be valid. That is bound to end up at SCOTUS soon, and if they rule against Trump (or, more likely, let lower court rulings that it is batshit crazy stand), then there is some hope that SCOTUS will rein him when he tries to run again…

        I hope the Supreme Court funds its own personal security, though. If they do go against Trump on the citizenship stuff, Trump’s army of pardoned insurrectionists might stage another “peaceful protest”, and might determine the solution is to forcefully open up a few new seats…

  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    So democrats will be running against him a fourth time, constitution be damned.

    Calling it now, they’re going to move even further to the right on the grounds that the alternative is trump so they can get away with it.

    Again.

  • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    This feels like it’s mostly up to the people in the military who are the ones actually holding the guns.

    If he doesn’t want it to get to that level, he doesn’t have to take it there. No one’s making him.