Jon Stewart Calls Bullshit on Trump’s Supposed ‘Methods’ for Seeking a Third Term
Every day is April Fool’s Day when you live in America, except the clowns in charge are rarely ever joking. On Monday, late night hosts reacted to President Donald Trump willingly admitting that he’s already searching for loopholes that could keep him in office for an unconstitutional third term. Trump has made it overtly clear in the past that he hates the Constitution, but The Daily Show host Jon Stewart wants to drive home just how ridiculous he sounds.
“I’m sorry — ‘considering the option?’” Stewart said. “What, are you trying to order off-menu from the Constitution? ‘Oh, yeah, I see you got, uh, what do you got, two terms here — but can I get it animal style?’” The comedian took the time to remind everyone that Trump already optioned the animal style route with an insurrection, noting: “Yes, there are other methods. I think you tried one a few years ago.”
Trump’s plotting for a third term began before he even finished his first one. In June 2019, he considered the idea of his supporters making a “demand that I stay longer.” Earlier this year, he seemingly joked about changing term limits, saying: “Should we go back to 16 years? Congressman, can we have that extended? Last time I jokingly said that, the papers started saying ‘He’s got despotic tendencies.’ I’m not looking to do it.” Little has changed since, least of all those Constitution-dismissing tendencies.
In 2020, Trump said: “We are going to win four more years. And then after that, we’ll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years.” Again, not how that works, even a little bit. But while there’s no way he gets an extended run in office, there is no shortage of other concerning impacts on democracy occurring under his watch for the time being.
“So aside from the president saying, ‘I’m not leaving,’ is there any other image of the shambolic state of our democracy?” Stewart asked. “Perhaps something that looks like what you might get if you fed ‘the destruction of democracy’ into an AI meme generator? Oh, right. Elon Musk. OK.”
Jokes fired off across the late-night board all throughout Monday evening. “In fact, he’s already working on some slogans for another run. I’m going to show you what I mean,” Jimmy Fallon said on The Tonight Show. “First, there’s ‘Trump ’28: I Edited the Constitution With a Sharpie, and the Donstitution Says It’s Legal.’”
On Late Night, Seth Meyers quipped: “In response, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced that Democrats will have a plan in place to stop him by 2032.” The Late Show host Stephen Colbert added: “Who cares what he won’t rule out? I won’t rule out lying down on the Krispy Kreme conveyor belt and letting the glaze just take me but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen. The Constitution forbids it. The 22nd Amendment states clearly that no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice. The rules are crystal clear — end of discussion.”