Talking About Politics: Will Americans ask Trump to be a candidate for a third mandate even if it violates the Constitution?

Photo Credit: NBC

Will Americans ask Trump to be a candidate for a third mandate even if it violates the constitution?

Seriously?

If by “Americans” you mean all U.S. citizens of legal age to vote and who actually participate in local, state, and nation-wide elections, of course not.

If by “Americans” you mean Trump supporters, it greatly depends on how educated, ethical, and well-informed they are.

I’m pretty sure that many Republicans would not violate the 22nd Amendment, the Constitutionally mandated two-term limit on Presidents that their own party introduced in Congress in 1947 and became the law of the land on February 27, 1951. After all, one of the alleged values that conservatives hold dear is the constitutionality of laws and upholding them, so it would be hypocritical (to say the least) if all of a sudden the vast majority of the GOP were to tear up the Constitution in order to, in effect, make Donald J. Trump President-for-life.

I’m also certain that there is a fanatical, almost cult-like subgroup of self-labeled conservatives who are, at their core, believers in authoritarianism and would love it if the GOP betrayed its own tenets and scrapped the 22nd Amendment. Trumpism is, in essence, a cult of personality that is similar to that of Josef Stalin in the former Soviet Union and Adolf Hitler in Nazi-era Germany. As a result, some of his loudest and less-educated followers probably would not mind if Trump somehow did become President-for-life with extra-constitutional powers, so long as he “sticks it to the libs” and “hurts the right people.”

As for the rest of us, the answer is a resounding “No.” Millions of Americans, including me, did not vote for Trump in 2016, and we will not vote for him again in 2020. So why would we want to vote for him again in 2024, assuming that he wins re-election?

Additionally, the very way that this question is framed is fundamentally flawed. Donald J. Trump did not win by a mandate. He won a very narrow victory, and only because he got more votes via the Electoral College than he did at the voting booth,

As Indigo Montoya says about Vizzini’s overuse of the word “inconceivable” in the movie The Princess Bride:

“You keep using that word. I don’t think you know what it really means.”

Per Merriam-Webster:

mandate

noun

man·​date | \ ˈman-ˌdāt \

Definition of mandate

(Entry 1 of 2)

1: an authoritative command especially : a formal order from a superior courtor official to an inferior one

2: an authorization to act given to a representative: accepted the mandate of the people

3a: an order or commission granted by the League of Nations to a member nation for the establishment of a responsible government over a former German colony or other conquered territory

b: a mandated territory

A narrow victory via the Electoral College does not a mandate make.