Trump Mode

How Trump gives his quislings room to defend him.

American-Iranian Nancy Zahavian brandishes a "Trump Forever" sign from the back of a military truck during a Pro-Trump car caravan on Ventura Blvd in Studio City, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, on September 13, 2020. (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

1. 12 Years a President

At the NRA convention this weekend Donald Trump floated, in an oblique way, the idea of a third term.

“You know, FDR 16 years—almost 16 years—he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?”

Byron York rushed out to defend Trump and suggest that the man who would like to be dictator for a day was almost certainly not talking about serving a third term as president:

I want to unpack this moment because it’s representative of Trump’s mode of communication.

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During the 2020 campaign, Donald Trump said on multiple occasions that after winning that election he should be allowed to run for a third term in 2024.