The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Trump Can Still Lead Without a Third Term

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Starting point is 00:00:25 We'd love to talk. Business. One of the most popular topics in the media is Donald Trump is now a lame duck, even though he has basically a full term of four years. But if you read the Washington Post, even the Wall Street Journal, but especially the New York Times, the question is, can MAGA survive after Trump steps down? If I were to decode that, it was, please, please, let's end these crazy MAGA people because Trump won't be around. Donald Trump has been trolling the media.

Starting point is 00:00:56 In March, they ask him, would you like a third term? No, you know, you can't do it. But my lawyers are working on it. They're looking at it. Donald Trump was trolling and he knows what makes the left angry and confuses. And the worst thing that they fear is the third term. But he's saying, I'm going to be around. I'm going to be a senior statesman.

Starting point is 00:01:17 Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. You know, one of the most popular topics in the media is Donald Trump is now a lame duck, even though he has basically a full term of four years. But if you read the Washington Post, even the Wall Street Journal, but especially the New York Times, the question is, can MAGA survive after Trump steps down? In other words, if I were to decode that, it was, please, please, let's end these crazy MAGA people because Trump won't be around. There's arguments on both sides whether a popular movement can survive its creators. Obviously, the Tea Party from which MAGA drew a lot of its ideas, as well as the candidacy of Ron Paul, the three candidacies, I should say, did not survive, or it was incorporated or absorbed into MAGA, but it didn't survive because it didn't have a leader.

Starting point is 00:02:22 And when you look back at presidents of a party that have their own brand, Reaganism for one example, they usually do not survive the tenure of the original president. even if the same party continues the administration. Ronald Reagan, he had a particular conservative strain of republicanism that when he ran on two prior occasions, they said he wouldn't be elected. He's too conservative. Yet when he stepped down, he proved that Reaganism was a very effective political ideology. And what happened? His handpicked successor, George H.W. Bush, almost as soon as he came into power, he said, read my lips, no new taxes. And he raised taxes. And then remember what he said? He said, I want a kinder, gentler nation. Nancy Reagan, the former First Lady, said, kinder and gentler than whom? Us, you know? So he didn't really

Starting point is 00:03:17 continue Reaganism. Bill Clinton hit upon, I think, partly with the input of Mark Penn, Dick Morris, Doug Schoen, a centrist democratic way of government. Maybe it wasn't as centrist as we think, but it was pretty left wing, but they were able to pass it off as centrist. It was a winning formula. Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 to succeed him. And what did Barack Obama do? He repudiated Clintonism and the Democratic Leadership Council. And he went hard to the left, and the result of that is we got a destroyed or an irrelevant Democratic Party.

Starting point is 00:03:57 So when Trump steps down, there's all of these arguments pro and con that, MAGA will or will not survive. Ron DeSantis was a very effective, is a very effective governor. He had a sweeping victory in 2022. He embraced the MAGA agenda. And his argument was, you can have MAGA, but without the Trump legal liabilities, but he wasn't able to capture the popular imagination. I'll leave you with one last thought. Donald Trump has been trolling the media. In March, he said, They ask him, would you like a third term? No, you know, you can't do it. But my lawyers are working on it.

Starting point is 00:04:39 They're looking at it. What he meant was the 22nd Amendment that was passed in 1951 right before the ascension of Dwight Aldienghauer, no president shall be elected for more than two terms. No president shall be elected twice. That was a Republican reaction. they controlled the Congress to the four terms of FDR. It's kind of ironic because Dwight Eisenhower would have been elected a third time probably

Starting point is 00:05:10 and beat John F. Kennedy if he could have run third. But his party had precluded that idea right before he became president. A lot of presidents think about it. Every successful president, the topic comes up. It came up with Reagan. It came up with Clinton. Obama, remember, said I'd like to phone in a third term if I didn't have to do the work. he also said he was lazy he confessed to that maybe that was why but here's my point

Starting point is 00:05:34 Trump was not serious at the time he just wanted to either troll the press and media or he wanted to dispel the idea that he was a lame duck and just throw it out there that maybe he could be president a third time because if you look at the language of the 22nd amendment doesn't say you can't hold office twice it says you can't be elected perhaps he could get a vice president he could run his vice president, the president could resign, and then he would take over and hold office three times, but not be elected. That was all fantasy. He was never going to do that. No voter would vote for a president to step down. Here's my point again. Donald Trump was trolling, and he knows what makes the left angry and confuses,

Starting point is 00:06:21 and the worst thing that they fear is the third term. But just this May, just recently, was asked that question again. He said, of course, I'm not going to run for a third term. And who's going to be the standard bearer? I don't know. I don't want to pick them. But we have an obvious vice president who's a firm believer in MAGA, and we have Marco Rubio, a successful secretary of state who could also serve. But the point again is, he raised the question, will this MAGA doctrine continue after I leave? Will there be sunshine after the sun is gone, in other words, to use assembly. And he's saying, I'm going to be around. I'm going to be a senior statesman. I'm going to endorse somebody, and I'm going to ensure that that person by the force of my

Starting point is 00:07:06 ex-presidency and influence shall abide by MAGA doctrines. So no, Donald Trump is not going to seek a third term. And yes, I think the MAGA ideology of the Republican Party will stay with us for the near future. Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis-Hanson for the Daily Signal. Thank you for tuning in to the Daily Signal. Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own website at victorhansan.com and subscribe for exclusive features in addition.

The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Trump Can Still Lead Without a Third Term

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