Democrat Introduces Resolution to Ensure Trump Knows He Can't Run for Third Term After 'Joke' About 'Figuring Something Out'

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) is aiming to introduce a House resolution that would reiterate President-elect Donald Trump's inability to run for a third term.

On Wednesday, Trump joked about potentially pursuing a third term when speaking to House Republicans at the Capitol.

"I suspect I won't be running again, unless you do something," Trump said, according to audio obtained by The Hill. "Unless you say, 'He's so good, we have to just figure it out.'"

"That was a joke. It was clearly a joke," Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said following the meeting. "I leaned over to somebody beside me, [Rep.] Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and I said, that'll be the headlines tomorrow, 'Trump trying to thwart the Constitution,' which — there's nothing further from the truth."

The remark, which elicited some chuckles from House Republicans, likely prompted Goldman's resolution, aiming to have the lower house of Congress re-affirm the 22nd Amendment, which "applies to two terms in the aggregate as President of the United States."

"We are a nation of laws, not kings. The 22nd Amendment is clear that no person can be elected President more than twice," Goldman wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "Any attempt by Donald Trump to do so is blatantly unconstitutional, and I call on my colleagues – D or R – to stand by their oath to defend the Constitution."

Goldman lists multiple examples of statements made by Trump himself that call for the resolution to be passed and the 22nd Amendment to be reiterated, reported Spectrum News. One example addresses an appearance Trump made at a conservative religious summit in July, where he told attendees they "won't have to vote anymore" if he gets elected.

Speaking at a rally in Nevada, the President-elect once said "we're going to win four more years in the White House. And then after that, we'll negotiate, right?"

"This is his M.O.," Goldman said to journalists Thursday. "He will drop in something outlandish, claim he's joking, but then he starts to repeat it more and more, and it starts to become normalized."