Politics

Trump: I Was ‘Kidding’ About Serving More Than Two Terms

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
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President Donald Trump said Monday that he was “kidding” when he recently posted a meme of himself staying in office well past his second term.

Trump drew the ire of the left on Twitter earlier this month when he posted an edited version of a TIME Magazine cover that implied he would be president forever. Some used the video as proof that the president wouldn’t accept the results of the 2020 election if he lost to a Democrat, and TIME quickly clarified that their original video was “manipulated” before being tweeted by Trump. (RELATED: TIME Magazine Really Wants People To Know The Trump TIME Video Wasn’t Real)

“FUNNY? The President of the United States just tweeted a video that envisions him remaining in the office for eternity in defiance of both human mortality & the 22nd amendment to the United States Constitution,” journalist Kenneth Vogel tweeted.

The president confirmed to The Hill in an exclusive interview that the tweet was made in jest and that he doesn’t actually intend on holding office longer than two terms. Trump also suggested he sent the tweet in order to purposely rile up his opponents.

Trump said the video “drove people crazy ’cause they don’t think it’s kidding,” adding, “Of course [I was kidding]. But it drives them crazy.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently suggested the president would not accept election results in 2020, stating, “But no, we have to respect the results of the election. I don’t believe [Trump] would have.”