Stephen A. Smith on Trump third-term talk: I thought Republicans 'preached about the Constitution'
Media personality Stephen A. Smith blasted Republicans for entertaining the possibility of President Trump running for a third term in office.
“Wait a minute, you’re a Republican voter out there. I thought your party was the party that preached about the Constitution. I thought your party was the party that said, ‘We’re not violating, we’re not circumventing, we’re not slithering our way through to get what we want,’” Smith said in a live discussion with Bill O’Reilly on Sunday.
Smith recalled a conversation on NewsNation’s “CUOMO” a few weeks ago wherein Trump ally Steve Bannon told anchor Chris Cuomo that “we’re working on” ways Trump could overcome term limits.
“I think we’ll have a couple of alternatives,” Bannon said at the time. “We’ll see what the definition of term limit is.”
Smith, pointing to that interview, said Bannon was “talking about violating the Constitution of the United States, the 22nd Amendment,” and added, “Everybody just glosses over it.”
Smith said there are other qualified candidates in Trump’s orbit who are young and could potentially succeed Trump as the GOP leader, pointing to Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“You’ve got candidates within his Cabinet that are more than qualified to run for reelection,” Smith said. “That’s not enough.”
Smith blasted those who claim Trump is a “once-in-a-generation kind of talent,” and argue, therefore, that “we got to hold on to it.”
“So, we’re going to circumvent every principle we stood on?” Smith added.
The remarks come as Trump has publicly mused about running for a third term since taking office in November. On Sunday, Trump gave some of his most expansive comments on the subject, telling NBC News that there are potential workarounds that could allow him to serve a third term.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration. … I’m focused on the current.”
When asked to clarify, Trump maintained that he was “not joking.”