Donald Trump might like to dangle the promise of third presidential term but Speaker Mike Johnson isn’t holding his breath.
The Louisiana Republican told reporters on Tuesday that President Trump had a “high bar” to clear if he wanted to stick around once this go-round in the Oval Office ends.
“I just told everybody to read the Constitution. There’s a constitutional path, so you have to amend the Constitution to do it, and that’s a high bar,” Johnson said.
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of a third presidential term, an idea that is unconstitutional under the 22nd Amendment. While Trump has told reporters that he’s deadly serious about lingering on Pennsylvania Ave, Johnson played the president’s comments off as a joke.
“The president and I have talked about this, joked about it. He’s joked with me on stage before,” he said. “You know we take him at his word.”
On Sunday, Trump told NBC News’s Kristen Welker that there were “methods by which” he could retain the office. When asked why he would want to stay in Washington well into his eighties, Trump said, “I like working.”
Never far from the script, Johnson turned Trump’s remarks into a reflection of the supposed performance of the GOP in recent months.
“I understand why so many Americans do wish that he could run for a third term, because he’s accomplished so much in this first 100 days that they wish it could go on for much longer,” he said, before putting a damper on the idea. “I think he recognizes the constitutional limitations, and I’m not sure that there’s a move about to amend the Constitution.”
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