Donald Trump’s “dictatorship” three-term presidency is “highly alarming” and shows he has “restyled the party in his image”, an expert has warned.
The former president was giving a speech to the National Rifle Association on Saturday in Dallas when he proposed the idea of a third term in office if he wins the presidency in November – despite it being against the US Constitution. Speaking to the crowd, he said: “You know, FDR 16 years — almost 16 years — he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?
In response, some of his supporters in the crowd began yelling “three”. Trump has previously suggested the idea of a third term even while campaigning in 2020 despite the 22nd Amendment, which was enacted following Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fourth term, limits the presidency to two terms.
READ MORE: Trump suggests three-term presidency in NRA speech but it violates constitution
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Inderjeet Parmar, Professor of International Politics at City University, London, believes Trump’s suggesting he can run for a third term is “highly alarming.” He exclusively told The Mirror: “(It is) highly alarming – it suggests that Trump in effect proposing a virtual dictatorship, given his record of claiming a stolen election in 2020, the coup and insurrection attempt culminating in the January 6 mob attack and invasion of the Capitol building, and his broader claim that he can never lose an election unless it’s rigged.”
Trump’s comments also suggest that he believes he’s “above the law”, according to an expert. They said he demonstrated this with his war on judges, journalists, and political opponents. This has, in turn, seen him turn the Republican Party into his “own image.”
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“(Trump believes) he’s above law, rule of law, the Constitution, separation of powers, let alone use of intimidation of judges, journalists, political opponents, and anyone who dares stand up to him”, Mr Parmar said. “The leader of the GOP has restyled the party in his own image and runs it like the Trump Organisation – a personalist dictatorship. Indeed, that’s his view of the presidency too.”
Despite the former president floating the idea of a third term in office, the 22nd Amendment, which was enacted following Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fourth term, limits the presidency to two terms. Mr Indeerjet believes it would be “very difficult” for Trump to amend the constitution but the fact he’s even bringing up the suggestion shows it is a “major signal” of his intent in office.
He added: “(It would be) very difficult as the process of amending the constitution is very cumbersome and requires two-thirds majorities in both houses and across 75% of the states. But the mere floating of the idea is a major signal of Trump’s intent – he is after all the head of what is now a far-right political party that no longer believes in electoral outcomes when it is on the losing side.”