The president’s so-called “jokes” about serving longer than his elected term, said one critic, “aren’t funny anymore.”
Not the first time he has done this, President Donald Trump on Friday morning insinuated he would like to extend his term beyond the four years granted by the nation’s constitution when he posed as a question the idea of being granted back “stolen time” that was taken from him because of the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and accusations of misconduct by former FBI head James Comey.
The disastrous IG Report on James Comey shows, in the strongest of terms, how unfairly I, and tens of millions of great people who support me, were treated. Our rights and liberties were illegally stripped away by this dishonest fool. We should be given our stolen time back?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2019
While the IG report this week chided Comey for handing off contemporaneous notes about his interactions with the president to a friend so that they could be provided to the press, the Justice Department said it would not pursue criminal charges against the former FBI director.
In reaction to Trump’s tweet suggesting he be given extra time on his current term, critics said the idea was ludicrous.
“Trump is talking about illegally extending his presidency again through a coup of his own making,” tweetedJohn Aravosis, liberal activist and editor of AmericaBlog. “It’s time Republicans started standing up for the country rather than the man.”
Talking about serving more than two terms suddenly isn’t a joking matter for Trump anymore.
“In six years — or maybe 10 or maybe 14, right? — in six years, when I’m not here, the New York Times goes out of business very quickly,” he says, deadpan. pic.twitter.com/VN6zZUr5S0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 21, 2019
Trump says he should be “given our stolen time back” after release of Comey report https://t.co/wX4100M4NB
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 30, 2019
It’s not the first time Trump has talked about staying beyond his allowable limit or suggesting he would not cede the office.
In June, as Common Dreams reported at the time, Trump pinned a tweet to his timeline showing an online meme that depicted him holding power indefinitely. While critics then acknowledged that the behavior appears to be a form of trolling by the president, it still is a frightening suggestion that would be foolish not to take seriously or with at least some level of concern.
In response to Trump’s comments on Friday, many took the idea of “stolen time” and ran with it as they suggested that it was Trump’s presidency—predicated on racism, misogyny, xenophobia, environmental rollbacks, corporate giveaways, cruelty to children, fealty to wealthy elites, and an overall assault on decency and the common good—that had stolen so much time and progress from the country and the world.
“We should absolutely be given back our stolen time!” said one Twitter user, exemplary of many others. “And the whole Trump fiasco should be stricken from history. Everything Trump has done should be reversed as though it never happened.”
‘Be Given Our Stolen Time Back?’: Trump Once Again Signals Desire to Illegally Extend Term added by Jon Queally | Common Dreams on
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