'I think that is a ridiculous argument!' Legal expert blows up Bannon's Trump 2028 claim

Legal expert and Politico writer Ankush Khardori mocked President Donald Trump Saturday for his apparent aspirations to remain in the White House beyond the end of his second term, calling one proposed theory as to how Trump may circumvent the Constitution and remain in office “a ridiculous argument.”

Whether in jest or not, Trump has long mused at the idea of serving more than two terms in the White House, which is prohibited under the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. Recent comments from his former White House chief of staff Steve Bannon, however, suggest the president may be more seriously considering an extended stay in the Oval Office, having declared there to be a “plan” already in place.

One theory floated as to how Trump could serve a third term as president looks to exploit the wording of the 22nd Amendment, which explicitly prohibits an individual from being “elected” to the office of the president more than twice, and not necessarily serving as president. To that end, in theory, some suggest Trump could be elected to vice president, only for his running mate to step down and hand the mantle to Trump.

This theory, however, at least according to Khardori, was “nonsense.”

“There is no credible argument,” Khardori said, speaking on MSNBC Saturday. “I want to be very clear about this: it's a bunch of nonsense that we just heard (from Bannon), many layers of nonsense, including the notion that Trump – who is extraordinarily unpopular – would somehow be elected, even assuming he could get on the ballot.”

As to the specific theory that Trump could ascend to the presidency a third time by running as vice president, Khardori disregarded it as “nonsense,” as have other legal experts, who argue the intent of the authors of the 22nd Amendment – regardless of its specific wording – was a clear effort to prevent a person from serving a third term as president.

For years, Trump has floated the idea of running for three or more terms as president. At a campaign rally in 2020, Trump said that he was “probably entitled to another four [years]” in the White House after the end of a second term, repeating the claim at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada earlier this year.