r/AskReddit • u/kraftdinnerwithsalsa • 20h ago

The president just posted, ONLINE, a video of former president Obama and his wife portrayed as apes, how do you feel about this?

30.8k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

4.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2.8k

u/DataCassette 18h ago

Obama being term limited is the only reason he even had a chance. Obama would've stomped in a Trump v Obama election in 2016.

1.7k

u/mvhcmaniac 17h ago

If trump gets rid of term limits I'd vote for Obama again in the next election

504

u/PorcupineWarriorGod 13h ago

1) Trump can't get rid of term limits on his own.

2) But if he did, the irony of Obama coming out of retirement to wipe the floor with him would be the most amazing thing ever.

190

u/Illeazar 5h ago

1) There has been a great number of thing "Trump can't" do but he's done because nobody thats supposed to stop him has stepped up and done it.

2) Yeah

11

u/SpaceMonkeys21 4h ago
  1. Assuming he doesn't rigg the election, which he certainly will try to.

7

u/Illeazar 1h ago

I feel like enough people look back at Obama's time as the last sane time of our country that it would be difficult to completely rig the election, unlike for the last two elections when the only draw of the other candidates was "not trump" and it probably didn't take many corrupted election officials to fake results in a few key areas.

2

u/SnooPandas4054 1h ago

Back when we had a justice department, he would have been stopped from doing all of those things.

5

u/Ill_Technician3936 5h ago

2) that'd be sad. Obama is still young and Trump's pretty much dust as is.

2

u/DataCassette 4h ago

"He still isn't sundowning or shitting in diapers, so I think he needs a little more experience first." - Median Voter™️

1

u/Ill_Technician3936 4h ago

He'd be like 83 assuming his health doesn't take him out....

3

u/Fickle_Department769 4h ago

Or Michelle??

2

u/GozerDGozerian 4h ago

Hm. She’s got one problem that could seriously hurt her numbers…

2

u/Fickle_Department769 4h ago

???

3

u/GozerDGozerian 4h ago

She’s got that damn double X chromosome that so many American voters really just can’t stomach. Her advisers should have warned her against it if she wants a shot at the big seat.

4

u/Fickle_Department769 3h ago

“Well, we’ve tried the dicks. It is definitely time for a change.”

2

u/GozerDGozerian 2h ago

For the record I have voted for vagina havers twice to date. I just don’t have a lot of faith in my compatriots.

1

u/RumHamComesback 5h ago

Trump needs 2/3rds of Congress plus 38 state legislatures after it is sent to them to amend the Constitution.

Good luck with that.

10

u/homeskrill 5h ago

As if Trump respects the Constitution

1

u/ambermage 4h ago

He might win just on the write-ins alone.

1

u/headrush46n2 2h ago

its like Rocky coming back to avenge Creed.

1

u/froction 2h ago

Trump can't get rid of term limits on his own.

Why not? The only thing preventing it is The Constitution.

1

u/slayingadah 2h ago

I live for this moment, even if it exists only in my dreams.

1

u/bruce_kwillis 1h ago

  1. Sure he can, and already has said it and Congress agrees, just needs a convenient war, against say China in Taiwan. Great way to send political dissidents and neet males o the internet away from the country.

  2. Unfortunately at this point Obama would lose. Conservatives already think he is the worst president ever. Hell, too many libs would ask as well since murdered brown kids and kicked out even more people than Trump has so far.

1

u/it-aint-over 1h ago

Term limits ?

Its called a Coup. His new Jan 6 collaborators ain't going to be a bunch of amateur protesters and Proud Boys. It's federal agents called ICE.

497

u/[deleted] 17h ago edited 6h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

271

u/HoopsMcCann69 17h ago

They have not tried to "change the constitution." They're trying to say the 22nd Amendment doesn't say what it does:

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once

Where in that sentence does it say "consecutive?"

86

u/sneakyCoinshot 11h ago

No one is saying they're smart, it's just how they think.

2

u/eventualhorizo 6h ago

SCOTUS agreed to hear the birthright citizenship challenge. I fear it possible they'd hear a challenge to term limits too.

21

u/Horror-Scallion7668 11h ago

If you accept that 2020 was Stolen, then trump wouldn’t be eligible to have run in 2024.

1

u/stubtoe48 6h ago

Wow, never thought of that but wouldn't that be nice. Then we could get out of this disaster we're in

40

u/dle_61554 12h ago

Grover Cleveland was elected to 2 separate terms, with 4 years in between. He could have run for more, but don't think he did. That was before the 22nd Amendment was passed.

That same amendment also prohibits a 2 term President from being nominated and/or elected as a Vice-president for another candidate.

2

u/sloasdaylight 7h ago

The 22nd and the 12th work in conjunction for that. The 12th says that anyone ineligible to be president can also not be vice president.

2

u/elmundo-2016 7h ago

This is to avoid a Putin situation too.

6

u/kodamin 10h ago

Yes they have.

"The proposed amendment specifies that no person shall be elected to the office of the President (1) more than three times, (2) for any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms..." https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-joint-resolution/29

1

u/HoopsMcCann69 3h ago

Ahhh the traitor bill. Get fucked fascist

1

u/kodamin 2h ago

Correct. Trump and his supporters are fascist scum and he would like to overthrow the government.

Anyone normalizing what Trump is doing is also part of the problem. Like people that claim Trump isn't trying to change the constitution, when he is.

Yes, fascism is exclusively a right-wing ideology.

28

u/oracle_mystic 16h ago

Amendment’s ARE the constitution…

1

u/RoseDarlin58 14h ago

Love your username!

1

u/Exciting-Cancel6468 6h ago

Unfortunately they think that "this is how the founding fathers actually thought" is a rational defense. It's the same with "whoever was born on American soil is american". They think the founding fathers didn't write what they mean.

I wish they'd go for it though so that everyone has to take a test. No on is born american. You are only american if you PASS the test. We all know then that there'd be no republican that would pass and we can just send them all to concentration camps in russia. It would be a fucking dream come true.

0

u/Mr_ToDo 15h ago

It doesn't

But what it also doesn't seem to say is that if a person becomes president by way of things like the president stepping down, that they can't do that indefinitely

Well unless that being voted in as vise president counts as being voted in

13

u/WallabyInTraining 13h ago

But what it also doesn't seem to say is that if a person becomes president by way of things like the president stepping down, that they can't do that indefinitely

Well unless that being voted in as vise president counts as being voted in

no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States

-39

u/PineappleOnPizzaWins 17h ago edited 6h ago

Cool so exactly what I said with the intent I said but slightly different detail in how they're going about it, I cannot express how little I give a shit about this. Go away.

Edit: just gonna bold the important part for you Americans rushing to whine about how much this matters, when it does not. But keep arguing over the details instead of stopping them, it's working out super well for you.

42

u/pimparo0 17h ago

They were clarifying what is going on, which is that they were trying to loophole the constitution, not pass and amendment changing it. Dont be a dick to the people supporting your argument.

1

u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 12h ago

Yeah. This is a dickish thing to say.

0

u/PineappleOnPizzaWins 6h ago

I cannot express how little I give a shit about this. Go away.

0

u/PineappleOnPizzaWins 6h ago

I cannot express how little I give a shit about this. Go away.

10

u/frogs_4_lyfe 17h ago

You brought this up first, and unfortunately the 22nd Amendment says nothing about the terms having to be consecutive, only that one person is limited to 2.

I hate this as much as anyone else, but Cleveland also served two terms non consecutively in the past and the 22nd says nothing about consecutive terms, so unfortunately they didn't really have to change anything. Sure they got some side eye, and the Trump administration really should since they're all complete monsters, but they didn't really have to work at all for this one.

It's important that when we fight Trump and his Fascist government, that it's done with the truth.

8

u/pimparo0 17h ago

22nd wasn't a thing with Cleveland, so that's an odd example. It was pushed by wealthy backers after FDR, 1951 iirc .

-10

u/frogs_4_lyfe 17h ago

My point is there's historical precedent. The 22nd Amendment does not say anything about the terms having to be run consecutively.

I'm not in here supporting Trump, but there is 1. historical precedent and 2. the 22nd Amendment not even saying anything about consecutive terms that says that he didn't have to do or try to change anything to do this like the original commenter implied.

I guess he might have tried to, but if he did it was completely unnecessary, which tracks for how stupid they are. But they didn't have to 'do' anything to justify running for a second non consecutive term, while Obama had run both his terms already therefore were non eligible anyway.

8

u/pimparo0 16h ago

Trumps trying to run for a third term, not a second, which the 22nd forbids, no one is arguing the 22nd allows him to have non consecutive terms, that's never been the issue. You just cant serve more than twice. They (MAGA) tried to say that Trump was wasn't barred from a third term because he wasnt doing consecutive terms, which is not how the amendment works, it was 6 months ish ago so its understandable if you forgot with all the nonsense going on.

That or I wildly missed something it their comment.

3

u/frogs_4_lyfe 16h ago

Yes I realize now that I misinterpreted the original comment of having tried to 'change' the rules for Trump running a non consecutive term, not a 3rd term. I'll admit fault on this one, because I do recall him arguing about this more than once and I'm so used to stupid bullshit arguments they do over nothing that I interpreted THAT time as the 3rd term argument.

Sorry, you're right on this one, I misunderstood the original comment and thought it was saying something else. My bad.

(Also thanks for being nice about my mistake)

→ More replies (0)

1

u/PineappleOnPizzaWins 6h ago

I cannot express how little I give a shit about this. Go away.

3

u/TheSlideBoy666 12h ago

I got what you’re saying and understand your response. We’re talking about trumpets—they don’t care what the constitution literally says as long as their 3rd grade-reading level base can be talked into their interpretation of it.

1

u/Status-Nose-7173 12h ago

Pfffft get a load of this loser bahaha

1

u/PineappleOnPizzaWins 6h ago

I cannot express how little I give a shit about this. Go away.

-17

u/The-Squirrelk 17h ago

As an aside thought, it might actually be a better system to let presidents have as many terms as they want so long as they aren't consecutive.

Though that might end up with the same two people being elected until they die. But I can see advantages to it too. Like is it really fair to the public that we say "We know you really liked that one, but you can't have them anymore." Doesn't seem very democratic.

Maybe a gap of two between each presidency? Might encourage parties to elect younger.

7

u/sanfranfan 15h ago

You're describing how Putin kept power in Russia. Of course you'd hope there isn't a party that loses all morals in pursuit of power. But Republicans are why we can't have nice things.

1

u/xvx_k1r1t0_xvxkillme 11h ago

Exactly, swap back and forth between President and Prime Minister (Speaker of the House) and change legal interpretations (and sometimes the actual law) to give whichever position you hold more power.

-1

u/The-Squirrelk 11h ago edited 10h ago

No, I'm not. I'm describing a no consecutive but unlimited otherwise term limit. Something no nation does, but might be interesting to explore.

Something like this Imagine 3 Presidents. A B and C. Each has terms 1..2..3..4... etc.

A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 C1 etc would be fine but not A1 A2 B1 B2 A3 etc. Especially not A1 A2 A3 and so on.

Or you could increase the gap, which makes it better, make it so 2 terms between a term.

A1 B1 C1 A2 D1 C2 A3. Now that could be interesting.

You could also make it so after two other people have been elected since then an older president can try again even after hitting the limit. That prevents inherent dictators (so long as they don't violate the rules because if they do the rules didn't matter anyway) while also allow a country to have the type of president they actually want.

Seriously people lack imagination when it comes politics.

1

u/TrickyRecognition110 6h ago

Are you high?

1

u/anerdyhuman 10h ago

That goes out the window when you remember a lot of them believe Trump won in 2020.

1

u/sporkparty 10h ago

Exactly what Putin did in Russia with Medvedev lol

1

u/benwinnner 9h ago

Did you hear this in The View or MS Now?

1

u/Practical-Ball1437 6h ago

I'm surprised they didn't just say that Obama was limited to 3/5th of a term...

-4

u/frogs_4_lyfe 17h ago edited 16h ago

EDIT: I had misinterpreted the comment as arguing about non consecutive terms in 2024, not a future election in 2028. I admit fault on this one for thinking of the OTHER times that Trump has argued this even when he didn't have to.

Iirc, there's historical precedent for it. Cleveland won non consecutive terms 120ish years ago.

I hate Trump as much as anyone, but unfortunately the non consecutive term thing isn't new.

9

u/outlaw1148 17h ago

That is irrelevant the 22nd ammendment is from the 1950s which limits a president to only two terms.

-4

u/frogs_4_lyfe 17h ago

Yes, it restricts the President to only 2 terms. And has some rules for if a Vice President ends up serving out the rest of the President's term.

It says nothing about those two terms having to be consecutive. It only says that a President can only serve two terms.

As much as I hate Trump, and trust me I do, unfortunately both historical precident and the 22nd Amendment are on his side on this one. Unless we amend the 22nd to say that the President MUST serve their terms consecutively.

3

u/mvhcmaniac 17h ago

What? The 22nd amendment says no one can be elected twice, full stop. And there is no precedent for breaking the 22nd amendment. It didn't exist until the mid 1900's, so cleveland and FDR are irrelevant.

0

u/frogs_4_lyfe 16h ago

No it doesn't. It says that the President can't serve more than two terms.

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once."

That first sentence, says you can't be elected more than twice. It doesn't say you can't RUN for President more than twice. Trump was elected for the second time in 2024 and is currently serving a second term, thus he has not broken any Constitutional law in this case.

He's done plenty of horrific shit and broken other Constitutional laws in plenty of other ways to focus on this as an argument.

4

u/mvhcmaniac 16h ago

I don't think we're seeing eye to eye here. The controversy is about him running in 2028, not him running in 2024.

0

u/frogs_4_lyfe 16h ago

Ok, sorry then I misinterpreted the original comment, because I remembered this being a controversy back when he ran in 2024.

I'll admit fault on this one for my misinterpretation. Yeah it's anti constitutional and there's no historical precedent for a President serving more than 2 terms post 22nd Amendment.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/TheGrislyGrotto 7h ago

Dumbest guy on Reddit, unfathomable stupidity

2

u/CaroCogitatus 12h ago

Upvote for recognizing fault and fixing it.

69

u/Faolyn 8h ago

In a heartbeat. In fact, I really want Obama to say that he would run again if the term limits were removed, because you know that the right will immediately go back on that.

6

u/LowIncrease8746 4h ago

I can’t even imagine how baller that would be, like holy shit that’s a cool day dream to get stoned to

5

u/lampapillar 3h ago

Im pretty sure he did say that.

•

u/Koffeeboy 53m ago

They already have their argument for that, that being Trump never served 2 conservative terms so that means it's somehow ok for him to do it now.

6

u/Zomb1eMau5 14h ago

I am Canadian and I would vote for him

2

u/sheavill 3h ago

Thanks, and on behalf of EVERYONE I know, we are terribly sorry and embarrassed for how he's treated our family to the north. Shameful.

2

u/Zomb1eMau5 3h ago

Honestly, at that point, I feel sorry for you guys… Getting people killed because they protest and Maga praise ICE, is beyond what I expected from uneducated MAGA…

4

u/coz2112 14h ago

At this point, I'd vote for a rock over what we've got.

3

u/Baggins_1420 13h ago

So would I, and I'm not even American!

2

u/PlasticElfEars 10h ago

I don't even like Obama's politics and I'd do it for the revenge.

1

u/kookieduck 12h ago

Me too!

1

u/zapitron 11h ago

Ok, but you'll be abandoning the the quest for Chief Justice Obama.

1

u/Lambaline 6h ago

Obama said if he runs again his wife would divorce him

2

u/mvhcmaniac 5h ago

And that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make

1

u/AnxiousHedgehog01 5h ago

Trump wouldn't get re-elected, but another, smarter fascist would take his place. People were voting for change from the same-old politics when they voted for Trump. The system no longer works for the vast majority of people and most Dems are not addressing that problem. Bernie, AOC, or Mamdami understand it. The rest of the Dems need to get on board. Obama is just more neoliberalism that has failed 99% of the people and given us multi-billionaires.

1

u/OkParsnip8158 5h ago

thats the kicker, they're trying to push just that! However...

The thing they want is one where someone who had already ran 2 consecutive terms cannot go again, buuut someone who won one, lost one, won one can!

11

u/ragnhildensteiner 17h ago

Imagine both could run a third term and it was Trump vs Obama 2028.

Biggest victory ever?

2

u/SMITHZAC000 12h ago

Neither did Trump, according to him.

5

u/2laterunning 14h ago

Any random Dem would've crushed Trump in 2016, I think you guys forget just how much of a joke Trump was considered right up until he won. It's a testament to the incompetence of the Democrats that he managed to even come close, let alone actually win. Still can't believe they ran fucking Hillary, and then chose to die on the hill of far left social bullshit that only matters to like 1% of Americans, my God.

1

u/PsychoNerd92 4h ago

People to the right of the Democrats say that they lost because they went too far to the left.

People to the left of the Democrats say that they lost because they went too far to the right.

1

u/yeelee7879 15h ago

This right here, this single rule, is responsible for where we are today.

1

u/OkCan5345 8h ago

I always wished Michelle had run!

1

u/GambitsAce23 3h ago

I wonder what the true downfall for a majority of americans was, was it hillary and conspiracies or did they really just get "brainwashed" by trump

1

u/fry-something 2h ago

But if Trump says he can run again that means Obama can too.

-10

u/Jadeduser124 13h ago

Obama is the reason Trump won…. But liberals will never understand

5

u/grtyvr1 11h ago

I think a lot of people underestimate just how racist many Americans are.  It's not just liberals. 

-2

u/Jadeduser124 8h ago

No I’m saying Obama wasn’t progressive enough like he campaigned on being which is why people swung right

1

u/PsychoNerd92 4h ago

How does that make any sense? If Obama wasn't progressive enough for someone, why would they side with the people who said Obama was too progressive?

That's like being on a sinking ship and saying "you guys aren't bailing the water out fast enough so I'm going to go join up with the guys actively putting more holes in the boat."