 "Steve Bannon, the keynote speaker of the night, addresses the crowd at the New York Young Republican Club's Annual Gala at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, U.S., December 15, 2024. REUTERS file")
Steve Bannon, the US President’s former advisor and longtime ally, has pitched for Donald Trump’s third term even though the Constitution sets a two-term limit for presidents.
“We want Trump in ’28. That’s what they can’t stand. A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in a country’s history. Right? We want Trump!” Bannon said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
The Trump ally suggested that the president can find a way around the Constitutional rule, saying, “We’ve got to maybe work the Constitution too although I think there’s a way to slip through there but you never know.”
Bannon reiterated that Trump should come back to power in 2028 as “the future of MAGA is Trump” and that “a man like Trump can only come once or twice in a country’s history.”
Trump raises similar prospect
It’s not like Trump does not like the idea of returning for a third term.
On Thursday, Trump once again floated the idea of serving an unconstitutional third term, prompting chants of “Four more years!” from the audience at a White House event after asking whether he should run again.
Last month too, while attending a private retreat in Florida, the president said, “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100 per cent sure because I don’t know.”
He added, “I think I’m not allowed to run again. I’m not sure. Am I allowed to run again?”
Can he?
The Twenty-second Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1951, restricts individuals from being elected to the presidency more than twice. Specifically, it states: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”