Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher warned Republicans on Friday that supporting a third term for President Donald Trump would mark a dangerous break from constitutional norms, telling them that “this is the moment when Rome stops being a Republic.”
Newsweek has filed out an online contact form with the Republican National Committee (RNC) for comment on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Trump and his allies have repeatedly teased the idea of him seeking a third term, despite most legal analysts agreeing it would violate the U.S. Constitution as all presidents are limited to two terms in office. Trump is now in his second term.
A third Trump term would be unprecedented in modern politics. The last president to serve more than two terms was Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945. His four-term run led to the passage of the 22nd Amendment, which mandates that a president can only serve two terms.
An attempt at extending Trump’s tenure in the White House could create a constitutional crisis, as critics warned on the campaign trail he could rule as an authoritarian if he returned to the White House.
What To Know
In a Friday segment of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the comedian said: “This is for those who keep asking me, Bill, you’re great at roasting the peddlers of woke nonsense. Why don’t you go all the way and join us? Let me give you the short answer, because I don’t want to live in North Korea.”
Maher, a frequent critic of Democrats and Republicans, compared somecurrent Republican lawmakers and Trump loyalists to devout supporters of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who rules the country as a dictator under the Juche ideology, an ideology with roots in communism.
Maher pointed to examples of GOP figures mimicking Trump in appearance, speech and niche, and personal policy support, such as suggesting he be placed on U.S. currency.
Maher continued: “If I admit that there is a level of Trump Derangement Syndrome on the left, will you admit that this s*** is also deranged?” Trump Derangement Syndrome has frequently been used by the White House and top officials to describe critics and opponents of Trump.
The comedian also touched on Republicans perceived blind support of Trump, urging them to start “thinking for yourself.” He used the example of Trump claiming during his recent joint congressional address that the U.S. is spending $8 million on transgender mice research, when in actuality it was for transgenic mice, which are genetically manipulated mice that are essential in biomedical research.
He said about the matter: “What’s worrisome about it is that nobody around the president would dare tell him that transgenic is not transgender.”
He then touched on how this growing loyalty has led to some calls from former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon and others for Trump to serve a third term. Maher warned that “soon the entire Republican Party will be on this page.”
The comedian then seriously stated: “President’s get two terms, not more, no matter how wonderful you think they are, it’s written in black and white in the Constitution.”
The 22nd Amendment reads: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”
Trump could try to repeal the 22nd Amendment, which would make it legal for a president to run for a third term. However, in an April 2024 interview with Time magazine, Trump said he wouldn’t be in favor of changing the 22nd Amendment.
Maher warned that if Republicans back a third term plan, it will be “the moment when Rome stops being a Republic.”
Outside of the 22nd Amendment, the other legal technicality that could allow Trump to return to the White House is if he runs as a vice-presidential candidate on the Republican ticket, and the top of the ticket resigns after the inauguration in January 2029, legal experts previously told Newsweek.
Noam Galai/Getty Images
What People Are Saying
Steve Bannon to NewsNation last week: “I’m a firm believer that President Trump will run and win again in 2028, so I’ve already endorsed President Trump. A man like this comes along once every century, if we’re lucky. We’ve got him now.”
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek in March: “Aside from the potential vice president loophole, there is no legal path for Trump to run for a third term. Politically, he doesn’t have the votes to repeal the 22nd Amendment, either in Congress or the states.”
Representative Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, previously told Newsweek in a January statement: “By now, Donald Trump’s pattern is predictable: ‘joke’ about something unconstitutional or authoritarian; normalize the ‘joke’; allow sycophantic Republicans to adopt the ‘joke’ as a serious idea until it becomes MAGA orthodoxy.”
Former federal prosecutor Shanlon Wu previously told Newsweek: “It’s worrisome because it shows how much his supporters embrace the strong man image which is bad for democratic principles but it’s also not surprising that either he or his supporters float the idea.”
What Happens Next?
An amendment to the Constitution to allow Trump to run again is unlikely to be approved by Congress.
