I’ve done what I can to avoid engaging with talk of a third Trump term. I think it’s trolling and a waste of time — ours and Trump’s. I also think it’s a bit of probing to see how much pushback the president gets. If he gets some, as he did with his declaration that “Massive Fraud [sic]… allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” he backs off. If he doesn’t get a lot, as he didn’t from certain corners over January 6 and lies of a stolen 2020 election, he probes further and, before long, the trolling becomes the “truth” building its own head of steam.
I don’t have any patience for this, same as I didn’t for the Biden administration’s line that inflation was transitory or that he had a cold at his 2024 debate with Trump. Talking points like these betray a lack of seriousness, a lack of respect for the American people in general, and a lack of respect for the party faithful in particular, who are expected to blindly pick up the lines and run with them. It’s time to throw the “third term” line back.