Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert—among Donald Trump’s most ardent and extreme backers—raised eyebrows when she declared that “we must rally behind President Trump to secure his third term” after she won another term in Congress on Tuesday night.
The Constitution limits presidents to serving two terms.
Although Boebert’s comment on Facebook seemed to express hope that Trump would somehow remain in office beyond 2028, it’s also possible she actually intended to falsely suggest that Trump had won a third term last night.
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The president-elect and his most loyal followers baselessly maintain that the 2020 election—which Trump lost to Joe Biden—was rigged against him, alleging widespread fraud.
The former explanation for Boebert’s remark, though, is not without basis.
Trump has repeatedly spoken, ostensibly in jest, about the prospect of remaining in office beyond the limit outlined by the Constitution.
“You know, FDR 16 years—almost 16 years—he was four terms,” he said at the annual NRA meeting in May. “I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?”
He made a similar suggestion four years earlier, as he campaigned for re-election against Biden.
“We are going to win four more years,” Trump said at a rally then. “And then after that, we’ll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years.”
Even in 2019, while still on office, Trump tweeted a video showing an edited TIME of him as president in perpetuity.
Boebert didn’t immediately respond to request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Many of Trump’s critics have labeled him a fascist and raised concerns that he will use the presidential power to expand the authority of the executive branch and seize an even tighter grip on the country. Trump has been outspoken about his desire to prosecute his political opponents, and has suggested that he will deploy the military against U.S. citizens.
Boebert wasn’t the only MAGA congresswoman to make a dubious election night claim about Trump’s victory—although the meaning of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s X post was more clear-cut.
Taylor Greene—who has a lengthy history of pushing fringe, debunked conspiracy theories like QAnon and Pizzagate—congratulated Trump on his victory and wrote, “Donald Trump has just been elected President for a THIRD time.”
Taylor Greene, like Boebert, retained her seat in the House last night, as nearly every county in America saw a shift to the right.
