I think Trump running for a third term would be a mistake, most notably because he will be 82 in 2028 and our recent experience with a president that old was an unhappy one for the nation, but the idea that Trump is banned from serving a third term by the 22 Amendment demonstrates how reading comprehension is in decline. Trump could run as the Veep for Vance. Vance resigns and Trump becomes President. Trump then nominates Vance as Veep by majority vote in both Houses. Gimmicky, sure. Also perfectly Constitutional.
Some critics have pointed to this sentence in the 12th Amendment: But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
Trump would not be constitutionally ineligible for the office of President. If he remained Veep after being elected to the office he could succeed Vance in the normal manner if Vance tragically died or became mentally incompetent. There of course is nothing in the Constitution preventing a president from resigning for any reason at any time.
A Trump third term is a bad idea, but permissible Constitutionally if done in the manner I have outlined above.
I regret I do not follow your logic.
I suppose a man might be appointed Vice President should the elected VP be incapacitated or resign for scandal. Following this, the newly appointed VP could accede the Presidency if the President would also be incapacitated or resign for scandal. Something similar to that happened with Ford in the 70s.
Yet the Amendment seems pretty clear off the top that a man may not run for VP if he has been elected twice as President.
Care to elaborate?
I’ve made similar points. The 12th amendment took effect at a time in which there were no term limits. (1804) The eligibility referred to pertained to age and citizenship requirements, nothing else. As you note Don, it would still be a bad idea, but likely more on pragmatic grounds than something based on a constitutional impediment. Pending of course a Supreme Court ruling definitively settling the matter which of course won’t happen unless someone actually tries to do what Pres.Trump is hinting at.
Yet the Amendment seems pretty clear off the top that a man may not run for VP if he has been elected twice as President.
Care to elaborate?
Neither the 22nd nor the 12th says anything like that. Trump would not be constitutionally ineligible to serve as President, he simply may not be elected to that office. Words greatly matter in interpreting a Constitution.
“the idea that Trump is banned from serving a third term by the 22 Amendment demonstrates how reading comprehension is in decline.”
Then what was the point of the 22nd Amendment, if not to prevent any future President from doing what FDR did and effectively becoming president for life? If Ike saw the VP “loophole” back in 1960 why hasn’t Congress closed it? They could have addressed that issue back in the 60s when they were considering the 25th Amendment, or in the 70s after what happened with Agnew and Nixon.
Then what was the point of the 22nd Amendment, if not to prevent any future President from doing what FDR did and effectively becoming president for life?
Congress specializes in poor draftsmanship. Intent is only looked at by courts when the language of the text is not clear.
Congress hasn’t closed it because they would have to amend the Constitution again and that is a very heavy lift. It passed in the 80th Congress because the Republicans had a fleeting majority, 246 GOP in the House and 51 GOP in the Senate, and some Southern and Western Democrats weren’t enamored of the idea of another FDR attempting again to be President for Life.
I think our President just likes trolling the opposition. It’s like his speculation on making Canada the 51st state— he does it to watch their heads explode. And since those people have done him dirty over the past four years, I’d say they have it coming to them.
Agreed, Clinton. In modern social media parlance, he is trolling his enemies on this one and laughing at their hysteria. It also serves to redirect some of the media’s anti-everything-Trump-does propaganda away from more important things.
Trump enjoys stirring the pot. He also wants to keep the possibility of a third term open to avoid being considered a lame duck.
OK, I see what you mean. Technically, …if the President has been elected twice, he may not run as to be elected as President a third time. It does not forbid him running as VP, then the newly elected President resigning almost as soon as inaugurated, thus re-elevating the newly elected VP to the Presidency again.
Strictly speaking, it’d be constitutional.
…accordingly, as the Amendment DOES focus on the Presidency, not the VP, the soon-to-be former President would not be ineligible to run as VP.
You know, …I’ll readily agree that Congress… can be more fuzzy than desired. Yet it’s possible they got this right, if only by accident. Most elected offices require some amount of personal ambition to seek office in the first place. Most of those elected will not be eager to step aside. ..It’s questionable whether an electorate would be willing to vote for such an arrangement.
Incidentally, …successful impeachment from the Presidency would be about the only thing to render someone legally ineligible to run for VP wouldn’t it?
I shouldn’t think resigning would be strenuous enough.
Resigning might make one politically un-electable, yet not legally forbidden.
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I vote for MORE TROLLING (e.g, 51st state, etc.) It sounds silly, but it make the Fake News Media’s heads explode and distracts them so you can get more things done. If it wasn’t for the media, a lot of the people she wants to see indicted would already be in jail.
This kind of trolling makes it impossible for Republicans to be seen as the party of the Constitution. Look at what the Democrats do – and yet people don’t see us as better than that.