Republican Lawmaker Insists Trump 'Wasn't Advocating' for Third Term Despite Saying He 'Was Not Joking' About Another Run

During a Monday morning appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box," a Republican lawmaker insisted President Donald Trump was not serious about running for a third term.

The show's co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Ohio Senator Jon Husted how he felt about the president "openly talking about a third term" by changing the constitution or potentially using JD Vance to "hand over" the presidency.

"That's—the president was responding to a question. He wasn't advocating for that," Husted said.

"We all know he would have to change the constitution for that and that would be highly unlikely," he added before he was cut off by Sorkin's co-host Joe Kernan, who twice repeated "we haven't even hit 100 days yet."

"You're not going to talk about this for three years and nine months, are you?" Kernan asked Sorkin.

"We may," his co-host replied.

"You might," Kernan retorted before pivoting to sports.

Husted's assertion came after President Trump told NBC News reporters he is considering a third term.

"A lot of people want me to do it," Trump told NBC News on Sunday morning. "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 not joking," Trump added when he was asked to clarify, according to NBC News. "But I'm not—it is far too early to think about it."

When he was later asked about his comments about running for a third term on Air Force One, while traveling back to D.C. from another weekend in Florida, Trump stated, "We have a long way to go before we can even think about that."

While traveling, Trump also joked it would actually be his fourth term since "the 2020 election was totally rigged," but he doesn't want the credit for the second "because Biden was so bad. He did such a bad job."