Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon whipped up Friday’s Conservative Political Action Conference crowd by talking about the possibility of President Donald Trump staying in office for a third term in 2028—which the Constitution currently prohibits—and concluded his speech by giving a provocative gesture that resembled the controversial salute Elon Musk gave at a post-inauguration rally last month.
“The questions going around—‘What’s the future of MAGA? What’s the future with 2028?‘—we’re not worried about 2028. We’re worried about today and tomorrow and the next day,“ Bannon said.
“That’s how we won. We did not go back in 2021—‘What’s going to happen in 2024.‘ No. It’s every single day. You report for duty and we get it done. Action, action, action.”
Bannon, who pleaded guilty last week to defrauding donors who were trying to get a southern border wall built, nevertheless received a warm reception at the annual gathering of conservatives.
“The future of America is MAGA, OK? And the future of MAGA is Donald J. Trump. We want Trump in ’28. That’s what they can’t stand,” Bannon said to cheers while pointing toward the news cameras. “A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in a country‘s history, right?”
After leading a chant of “We want Trump!” Bannon again mentioned the press.
“Nothing’s going to work them up like that. They want to say he’s a lame duck, Trump’s this, Trump’s that, Trump’s not running in ’28,” Bannon said. “Trump is here. He’s the leader of this movement.”
After finishing his speech minutes later, Bannon appeared to salute the crowd in a similar fashion to Elon Musk, whose open-palmed, arm-outstretched gesture last month had right-wing extremists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis thrilled.
A representative for Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Trump himself has mentioned staying in office past 2028 several times since moving back into the White House. He did so earlier this month at the National Prayer Breakfast, on stage with House Speaker Mike Johnson in January, and at a Las Vegas rally a few days prior.
And just two hours before Bannon took the stage Thursday, Trump went down that path again.
“Should I run again? You tell me,” he asked a friendly White House audience who chanted “Four more years!”
The only tangible effort geared toward allowing Trump to run in 2028 is legislation introduced last month by Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles. His bill would allow Trump to serve three terms in total, but would conveniently bar from office former presidents like Barack Obama who have already served two consecutive terms.
Proposing a Constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate, or a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of state legislatures. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
