{"id":139306,"date":"2025-12-18T14:32:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/12\/18\/dershowitz-tells-trump-constitution-is-not-clear-on-third-term-continuing-transition-from-scholar-to-maga-crank\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T14:32:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:32:56","slug":"dershowitz-tells-trump-constitution-is-not-clear-on-third-term-continuing-transition-from-scholar-to-maga-crank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/12\/18\/dershowitz-tells-trump-constitution-is-not-clear-on-third-term-continuing-transition-from-scholar-to-maga-crank\/","title":{"rendered":"Dershowitz Tells Trump Constitution Is \u2018Not Clear\u2019 On Third Term, Continuing Transition From Scholar To MAGA Crank"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alan Dershowitz continues his late-in-life transition from esteemed Harvard Law School scholar to Temu Eli Cash with an upcoming book titled Could President Trump Constitutionally Serve a Third Term?<\/em> Coming this March! Thrill as the professor emeritus spins out a polemic attempting to muddy the crystal clear waters of interpreting the 22nd Amendment. Could President Trump constitutionally serve a third term? No, of course not. But that\u2019s not going to stop Dershowitz from peddling half-baked hemming and hawing to legions of MAGAheads willing to hand over their disposable income for fascism fanfiction.<\/p>\n

And Dershowitz tells the Wall Street Journal<\/a> that he\u2019s told Donald Trump that the Constitution isn\u2019t clear about this subject, which must have thrilled the guy who cheered on a coup and already started minting Trump 2028 hats. \u201c[Trump] found it interesting as an intellectual issue,\u201d Dershowitz told the Journal describing a conversation with a man intellectually challenged by correctly identifying a giraffe<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Trump enthralled by this tinfoil hat constitutionalism. Casino heiress Miriam Adelson announced at the White House Hanukkah party that she\u2019d drop $250 million on a Trump 2028 campaign based on Dershowitz telling her it was legal<\/a>. The crowd chanted \u201cFour more years!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,\u201d reads the text that Dershowitz is trying to assign the \u201cIt\u2019s Complicated\u201d tag. \u201cI said \u2018it\u2019s not clear if a president can become a third-term president, and it\u2019s not clear if it\u2019s permissible,’\u201d Dershowitz said as though words have no meaning. It is, in fact, clear. Even if the text were not so clear, no one is struggling to understand the original meaning of the provision since the 22nd Amendment was ratified in 1951. People are STILL ALIVE. It\u2019s not a murky interpretive project if it\u2019s written contemporaneously with an episode of I Love Lucy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There is no mystery: FDR got elected four times and this annoyed Republicans so much they made a rule. It exists to make sure no one gets to be president more than twice. If you can\u2019t figure out the original public meaning of the 22nd Amendment, you shouldn\u2019t be allowed to publish a book about the law. Indeed, if you can\u2019t figure out the original public meaning of the 22nd Amendment, you probably shouldn\u2019t be allowed to operate heavy machinery. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no penumbra to plumb. No Federalist Papers to read through a Cracker Jack decoder ring. There\u2019s a straightforward command that no one in Trump\u2019s position gets to be president again.<\/p>\n

Instead, Dershowitz is wasting everyone\u2019s time spitballing loony loopholes like Electoral College members abstaining so that no candidate reaches 270 votes and then throwing the decision to Congress to \u201cselect\u201d rather than \u201celect\u201d the president. Maybe he could be the Speaker of the House and wait for his sock puppets to get elected and promptly resign. <\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At this point, it would\u2019ve been easier to just let him have that pierogi<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s embarrassing, but also a potentially tragic teaser of the 2028 Supreme Court docket. Trump\u2019s cronies on the Court are already trying to \u201cwell, maybe\u201d their way into a president-for-life<\/a> and Dershowitz is there to provide grist for that mill. He\u2019s just doing his part for a cause that needs credentialed lawyers to sanewash anti-democratic nonsense into something that sounds like scholarship instead of a coup hype mix. After spending the last decade as \u201cGuy Who Will Say Any Insane Thing On Television If It Helps Donald Trump<\/a>,\u201d Dershowitz doesn\u2019t carry the same reputational heft he once did<\/a>\u2026 but maybe it\u2019s enough for this Court. <\/p>\n

Either way, Dershowitz can collect his checks and bask in his favorite past time as a cable news talking head laying out increasingly bizarre legal wishcasting. And then he can enjoy his second-favorite pastime: complaining when the Martha\u2019s Vineyard public library doesn\u2019t host his book tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Exclusive | Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear<\/a> [Wall Street Journal]<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Dershowitz Tells Trump Constitution Is \u2018Not Clear\u2019 On Third Term, Continuing Transition From Scholar To MAGA Crank<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alan Dershowitz continues his late-in-life transition from esteemed Harvard Law School scholar to Temu Eli Cash with an upcoming book titled Could President Trump Constitutionally Serve a Third Term?<\/em> Coming this March! Thrill as the professor emeritus spins out a polemic attempting to muddy the crystal clear waters of interpreting the 22nd Amendment. Could President Trump constitutionally serve a third term? No, of course not. But that\u2019s not going to stop Dershowitz from peddling half-baked hemming and hawing to legions of MAGAheads willing to hand over their disposable income for fascism fanfiction.<\/p>\n

And Dershowitz tells the Wall Street Journal<\/a> that he\u2019s told Donald Trump that the Constitution isn\u2019t clear about this subject, which must have thrilled the guy who cheered on a coup and already started minting Trump 2028 hats. \u201c[Trump] found it interesting as an intellectual issue,\u201d Dershowitz told the Journal describing a conversation with a man intellectually challenged by correctly identifying a giraffe<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Trump enthralled by this tinfoil hat constitutionalism. Casino heiress Miriam Adelson announced at the White House Hanukkah party that she\u2019d drop $250 million on a Trump 2028 campaign based on Dershowitz telling her it was legal<\/a>. The crowd chanted \u201cFour more years!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,\u201d reads the text that Dershowitz is trying to assign the \u201cIt\u2019s Complicated\u201d tag. \u201cI said \u2018it\u2019s not clear if a president can become a third-term president, and it\u2019s not clear if it\u2019s permissible,’\u201d Dershowitz said as though words have no meaning. It is, in fact, clear. Even if the text were not so clear, no one is struggling to understand the original meaning of the provision since the 22nd Amendment was ratified in 1951. People are STILL ALIVE. It\u2019s not a murky interpretive project if it\u2019s written contemporaneously with an episode of I Love Lucy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There is no mystery: FDR got elected four times and this annoyed Republicans so much they made a rule. It exists to make sure no one gets to be president more than twice. If you can\u2019t figure out the original public meaning of the 22nd Amendment, you shouldn\u2019t be allowed to publish a book about the law. Indeed, if you can\u2019t figure out the original public meaning of the 22nd Amendment, you probably shouldn\u2019t be allowed to operate heavy machinery. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no penumbra to plumb. No Federalist Papers to read through a Cracker Jack decoder ring. There\u2019s a straightforward command that no one in Trump\u2019s position gets to be president again.<\/p>\n

Instead, Dershowitz is wasting everyone\u2019s time spitballing loony loopholes like Electoral College members abstaining so that no candidate reaches 270 votes and then throwing the decision to Congress to \u201cselect\u201d rather than \u201celect\u201d the president. Maybe he could be the Speaker of the House and wait for his sock puppets to get elected and promptly resign. <\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At this point, it would\u2019ve been easier to just let him have that pierogi<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s embarrassing, but also a potentially tragic teaser of the 2028 Supreme Court docket. Trump\u2019s cronies on the Court are already trying to \u201cwell, maybe\u201d their way into a president-for-life<\/a> and Dershowitz is there to provide grist for that mill. He\u2019s just doing his part for a cause that needs credentialed lawyers to sanewash anti-democratic nonsense into something that sounds like scholarship instead of a coup hype mix. After spending the last decade as \u201cGuy Who Will Say Any Insane Thing On Television If It Helps Donald Trump<\/a>,\u201d Dershowitz doesn\u2019t carry the same reputational heft he once did<\/a>\u2026 but maybe it\u2019s enough for this Court. <\/p>\n

Either way, Dershowitz can collect his checks and bask in his favorite past time as a cable news talking head laying out increasingly bizarre legal wishcasting. And then he can enjoy his second-favorite pastime: complaining when the Martha\u2019s Vineyard public library doesn\u2019t host his book tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Exclusive | Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear<\/a> [Wall Street Journal]<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alan Dershowitz continues his late-in-life transition from esteemed Harvard Law School scholar to Temu Eli Cash with an upcoming book titled Could President Trump Constitutionally Serve a Third Term? Coming this March! Thrill as the professor emeritus spins out a polemic attempting to muddy the crystal clear waters of interpreting the 22nd Amendment. Could President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":139280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Headshot-300x200-AGICtn.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}