Will Trump’s face be chiselled alongside the legends of Mount Rushmore?
November 14, 2024 5:23 pm(Updated 5:35 pm)
Donald Trump has won the democratic power to rule as an autocrat. With Congress in his pocket and presidential immunity from the Supreme Court, this is not an invitation the great narcissist of American politics is going to refuse. In 2016, when Trump first became president, he said: “We’re going win so much you’re gonna get tired of winning.” We might, but he never will. Trump is already preparing Americans for a third White House term.
“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something,” Trump reportedly bantered with Republican congressmen. “Unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we just have to figure it out.”
Why stick with Amendment 22 of the US constitution (the one that states “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”) when Trump’s troll army can pummel recalcitrant hold-outs in Congress into clamouring for the good times to go on indefinitely?
As luck would have it, Trump will be in charge when America celebrates its 250th anniversary on Independence Day in 2026. Is this the moment when plans are announced to chisel Trump’s face alongside the legends of Mount Rushmore? Kristi Noem, the dog-slaying governor of South Dakota and incoming head of homeland security, has previously flattered him with a four-foot replica that puts him next to Abraham Lincoln. Conceivably, Trump could also announce it is the right time to bend the constitution to his will.
Only the wartime president Franklin Delano Roosevelt has broken George Washington’s two-term precedent. FDR died in office in spring 1945 just a few months into his fourth term. Judging by the number of hints Trump has dropped about a third term, he is obsessed with staying in power. He is convinced the 2020 “stolen election” means he has already “won” three times and therefore deserves another shot.
There is an array of Trumpists who think he is entitled to one. The writer Peter Tonguette floated the idea in American Conservative magazine last April. “If, by 2028, voters feel Trump has done a poor job they can pick another candidate, but if they feel he has delivered on his promises, why should they be denied the freedom to choose him once more?” he suggested.
Amendment 22 was only ratified in 1951. Ronald Reagan reportedly wanted to repeal it to nullify the “lame duck” nature of a second term. Bill Clinton argued in 2011 that as long as there was a gap – as in the two Trump presidencies – a candidate should be entitled to run again. “I personally think this should be the rule,” he told MSNBC. Why, there is a bipartisan consensus, at least among ex-presidents.
Given that Trump found constitutional scholars to argue in January 2020 in favour of overturning the election, he will surely be able to find obliging learned souls to argue for extending his term. But it is no easy matter to change the constitution. In case this gambit doesn’t pay off, Trump has no intention of bowing to the conventional rules of politics and behaving like a lame duck.
Trump’s cabinet appointments are not just aimed at shoving it to the “libs” but to the Republican establishment. And why not? He has the power to do what the hell he likes. Giving Matt Gaetz the post of Attorney General is a massive “up yours” to his Republican colleagues. The Florida congressman with the slicked-back hair was just days from the release of a House ethics committee report into his alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and bribery. He denies all allegations. Now that he’s resigned, the report has been shelved.
The Justice Department investigated the allegations against Gaetz but declined to bring charges. Now Gaetz will not only be in charge of the entire department, he will likely be able to delve into the files and find out who blew the whistle on his conduct.
Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman for Hawaii turned Maga booster, is another fan favourite with Trumpists. She’s been handed the job of Director of National Intelligence. Russian state TV called her “our friend Tulsi” after the invasion of Ukraine. She declared that “in the spirit of Aloha” it was time for Ukraine to make peace.
Some of Trump’s picks, such as Marco Rubio as secretary of state, have been more conventional, but there is no doubt Trump is enjoying the power to confound his enemies. Nothing sums up his untrammelled victory better than the images of a triumphant Trump with Joe Biden, grinning like a ninny welcoming him back to the White House. Now there’s another president who didn’t want to leave office.
Sarah Baxter is director of the Marie Colvin Centre for International Reporting
Source: politics.einnews.com…
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