Donald Trump Says He Could Serve Five Terms As President
During a Monday night campaign rally, President Donald Trump suggested that he is so popular that he could serve as many as five terms in the White House, The Hill reports.
“Now we’re going to have a second time,” Trump told the crowd while discussing the 2016 presidential election.
Trump then said that he will “drive them crazy,” referring to his perceived opponents, jokingly suggesting that he could serve as many as five terms as president.
“And maybe if we really like it a lot and if things keep going like they’re going, we’ll go and we’ll do what we have to do. We’ll do a three, and a four, and a five.”
“We’re going to have another one, and it’s going to be great,” the president clarified.
But as The Hill notes, this is not the first time President Trump suggested that he could serve more than two terms in the White House. He has joked about doing so on many occasions, prompting widespread backlash and criticism.
In early May, Trump promoted a Twitter comment which suggested that his term be extended “for time stolen by this corrupt failed coup,” which is how the president has referred to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination between Trump campaign officials and the Kremlin.
Even though Trump is apparently joking about exceeding constitutional limits, his comments have not been taken lightly by some Democrats. As The New York Times reported, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has argued that the only way to remove Trump from office is not by impeachment, but by a landslide victory.
Yes, let’s defeat or impeach Donald Trump. But what if he refuses to leave the White House? https://t.co/pWntSK6bBB by @mehdirhasan
— The Intercept (@theintercept) March 6, 2019
The Democrats, according to Pelosi, have to win in 2020 by a margin so “big” that Trump cannot challenge the legitimacy of their victory.
“We have to inoculate against that, we have to be prepared for that,” she said, repeating her claims that Trump might not be willing to give up power voluntarily if he loses by a slim margin.
While Pelosi may be concerned about Trump legitimatizing a possible Democratic victory in 2020, if it is to judge by the president’s previous comments, whether the Democrats win in a landslide or by a slim margin, he could dispute the results either way.
As Newsweek reported, despite winning in 2016, Trump has disputed official election results. Discussing reports that he had lost the popular vote, the president said in 2017 that he had won the popular vote “if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”
As the publication noted, there is no evidence to support Trump’s claims.
