“If Trump is impeached in the house & not senate, he can run 2 more times.”
No, Trump cannot run two more times if the Senate does not convict him
As the U.S. Senate continues the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a meme is circulating claiming that if the Senate does not convict, Trump can run for president two more times.
The grammatically challenged post reads:
“Want to blow a snowflakes mind? Remind them if Trump is impeached in the house & not senate, he can run 2 more times. The U.S. Constitution states that if a president is impeached by the House but not convicted by the Senate, that person’s first term is nullified and they are eligible to run for office two more times.”
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Back in October, we rated a nearly identical claim Pants on Fire.
This one is also going up in flames.
“It’s totally false. Ludicrous. Wholly made up,” said Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, co-author of “To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment.”
It’s as simple as the beginning of Section 1 of the 22nd Amendment, University of Missouri law professor and impeachment expert Frank Bowman told us. It reads:
“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.”
No person can be elected three times. Trump was elected in 2016, so he can only win election one more time. No impeachment exception.
Our ruling
A Facebook post claims: “If Trump is impeached in the house & not senate, he can run 2 more times.”
Plain and simple, a person can be elected to only two terms as president. No exceptions.
We rate the claim Pants on Fire.
Our Sources
Facebook, post, Dec. 20, 2019
PunditFact, "No, Donald Trump could not seek a third term if an impeachment trial failed," Oct. 2, 2019
Cornell Law School, 22nd Amendment to the Constitution
Email, Frank Bowman, professor at the University of Missouri School of Law and author of "High Crimes and Misdemeanors: A History of Impeachment for the Age of Trump," Jan. 27, 2020
Email, Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, co-author of "To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment," Jan. 27, 2020
Email, Vanderbilt University constitutional law professor Suzanna Sherry, Jan. 27, 2020
Email, Michael Gerhardt, University of North Carolina professor of law and author of Impeachment: What Everyone Needs to Know, Jan. 27, 2020
