WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Question:
Now that President Donald Trump has been acquitted by the Senate, does he really get the possibility to run for two more terms?
Answer:
No. According to constitutional experts, the claim is complete nonsense, and "a lie."
Sources:
22nd Amendment
Louis Michael Seidman, Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown Law School
Process:
It's a claim that has triggered a lot of attention online.
"Want to blow a snowflake's mind?" it begins. "Remind them if Trump is impeached in the house and not Senate, he can run two more times."
The claim sounded dubious, and so the Verify Team turned to constitutional expert, Louis Michael Seidman, who is a law professor at Georgetown Law School. He didn't mince his words about the online claim.
"(It) has absolutely no basis in law, and fact and common sense," he said. "It is a lie."
Seidman pointed the Verify Team to the 22nd amendment, which clearly outlines the rule about a two term limit. The text begins as follows:
"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 President more than once."
Seidman said that this leaves no wiggle room.
"The 22nd amendment says clearly," he said. "That somebody that has been elected twice cannot be elected a third time. Period. It doesn't matter if they've been impeached or convicted. None of that matters. If they've been elected twice, they can't be elected a third time."
Seidman said that these types of claims demonstrate a concerning trend of fake news spreading online.
"It worries me about the future of our democracy," he said. "Because people are uninformed about basic things. And total nonsense gets spread around and people believe it. And it's a real problem."
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