Former Barack Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor know exactly how to block Donald Trump from somehow getting a third term in office.
“Obama should run,” Vietor suggested on Tuesday. “We should mop the floor with this piece of s–t. Run it back, sir.”
The three hosts of political podcast Pod Save America quipped that if Trump commits to breaking constitutional law, they at least want someone qualified to take over.
Trump made the third term threat Sunday, telling reporters that he’s “not joking” about a third term and adding there were “methods” to circumvent the constitution’s two-term limit. He has also claimed that many people are asking him to run again and that a third round would be “important” because “the 2020 election was totally rigged.”
When asked about why he’d want to run again, Trump gave a simple justification: that he likes working.
The 22nd Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected as president more than twice.
But while Trump says we have a long way to go before officially campaigning, Favreau said that he’s “already acting like a dictator.” The president received backlash from various Democrats after posting an AI-generated photo of himself with a crown and the caption: “LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Lovett agreed that Trump’s abusing his presidential power. “We don’t really need to worry yet about the possibility that Trump is gonna behave like a dictator three years from now because he is behaving a like a dictator right now,” he said. “We probably should focus on that.”
“We’re so used to this now,” added Lovett, saying that Trump’s assertions were “disqualifying,” “despicable,” and even an “impeachable offense.”
“The clear intent of the 22nd Amendment is that, that he should not be able to seek a third term. The language leaves no loophole for him to seek the office in some ridiculous roundabout way,” he continued. Still, Lovett noted the president was already disobeying the constitution through “pardon power that he uses every f—ing day lately.”
Several Republicans have already begun pondering ways that Trump could reclaim his throne. Some think he could force Vice President JD Vance to run and then pass the baton, which is also prohibited in the constitution. Others suggest a tricky technicality: the Constitution prohibits someone from being “elected,” but not from serving.
“If I was JD Vance, I’d be pretty pissed,” said Favreau, who noted that Vance might want to run himself in 2028. “If JD Vance and Donald Trump were ever together and do a joint interview, I would ask them together. So that JD Vance could be really sad when Donald Trump is like, ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna do it.‘”
Favreau said that people shouldn’t yet freak out, but they shouldn’t avoid the subject either. “Like, f— them,” he said. “No, you’re not gonna run again, you a–hole.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Trump administration for comment.
