White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed Monday that reporters needed to calm their reactions to President Donald Trump musing about a third term.
The Constitution prohibits presidents from serving more than two terms but Trump has said in recent interviews that he’s open to being president for more than eight years.
That has prompted concerns in light of Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election to President Joe Biden – which he still falsely claims was ‘totally rigged’ – and his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
‘You guys continue to ask the president this question about a third term and then he answers honestly and candidly with a smile and then everybody here melts down about his answer,’ Leavitt told reporters outside the White House Monday.
She had just gone on Fox News Channel’s America Reports, where she was asked about Trump’s third-term comments too, and gave as similar answer.
‘It’s funny to me that journalists ask the president this question. He gives an honest and candid answer, and then they spiral about his answer,’ Leavitt told Fox News Channel’s John Roberts.
‘He was asked this, and you heard him, and he’s right,’ she continued.
Leavitt said Americans are talking about a Trump third term because ‘people love the job this president is doing.’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addresses reporters outside the White House on Monday after appearing on Fox News. During both she pushed that reporters needed to calm down about President Donald Trump floating a third term
President Donald Trump was asked about his comments to NBC News about serving a third term while on board Air Force One Sunday, returning to Washington, D.C. after spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago
‘We have four more years to go and look at what the president has done in more than 60 days,’ she said.
Just three days into Trump’s second term, Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, sent out a proposal to amend the 22nd Amendment to open the door for a Trump third term.
Ogles’ Constitutional amendment would allow for Trump to run for a third term – but prohibit 63-year-old President Barack Obama from doing so, because the Democrat had already served two consecutive terms.
‘No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive term,’ the text of the Ogles’ Amendment read.
The topic again came up over the weekend when Trump phoned NBC’s Kristen Welker Sunday morning.
‘A lot of people want me to do it,’ the 78-year-old president said.
A chant of ‘four more years’ broke out at the White House last week during the president’s Greek Independence Day event.
‘But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration,’ he continued. ‘I’m focused on the current.’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about President Donald Trump’s third term comments during a Monday afternoon appearance on Fox News Channel. She said that journalists were ‘spiraling’ over Trump’s response
When asked why he’d want another term, the president responded, ‘I like working.’
‘I’m not joking,’ he continued. ‘But I’m not – it is far too early to think about it.’
He was then asked if he’d been presented with plans on how to serve a third term.
‘There are methods which you could do it,’ he said.
He was asked about those comments on board Air Force One Sunday as he traveled back to Washington, D.C.
‘I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, you’ve got a long time to go,’ Trump said.