Ben Shapiro attacks Steve Bannon for floating a “really stupid” notion of a third Trump term: “Steve Bannon is a grifter”
Shapiro: “There is no constitutional provision that allows for a third term for President Trump. This is really stupid.”
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From the October 28, 2025, edition of The Daily Wire's The Ben Shapiro Show
BEN SHAPIRO (HOST): Democrats are having to come up with new strategies for freaking out their base. So they are trotting out the idea that Donald Trump is going to run for a third term.
Now, let me be clear, the only person on the right who is talking about this is Steve Bannon. Steve Bannon is a grifter. Steve Bannon has always been a grifter. It is what he does.
Steve Bannon is an attention — He is the entire Amsterdam red light district of attention, Steve Bannon. He will say anything in order to maintain street cred with President Trump and in order to maintain himself at the center of American politics despite the fact that he was kicked out the door by the president last term and named Sloppy Steve as a result.
And so, Steve Bannon out there retailing the bizarre and stupid idea that Donald Trump is going run for a third term, presumably, so that Bannon can, I don't know, have an iron in the fire in 2028 himself, perhaps? It's really dumb. The media, of course, are grabbing that and paying attention to it as though it's a real strategy in order to try and alarm Democratic voters. And so this is the new schtick, is Democrats claiming that Trump isn't going leave the White House. Yes. He will. Yes. He will. He served two terms. He's happy with having served two terms. There is no constitutional provision that allows for a third term for President Trump. This is really stupid. But I guess Democrats gotta do something to jazz up their base.
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SHAPIRO: That's just wrong. Meanwhile, Whoopi Goldberg doing the same thing. This is slop for the masses. Whether you're doing it on the right or on the left, Donald Trump ain't gonna be president in 2029. This is silly.
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SHAPIRO: We will unite to stop a third term that is that can't possibly happen legally.
Just to clarify that Steve Bannon and all the rest of left-wing crew claiming Trump's gonna run in 2028, that they're grifters, I decided that I was going to ask Comet, my sponsors, a new web browser by Perplexity, about this very question. Are there any plausible legal strategies by which a two term president could run for a third term under the Constitution? Answer, no. There are no plausible legal strategies by which a two-term president could run for a third term under the current US Constitution. The 22nd Amendment explicitly states that no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice, and constitutional scholars widely agree the prohibition is clear and comprehensive. The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, restricts any individual from being elected president more than twice. Suggestions such as running as VP and ascending to the presidency after resignation are barred by the 12th Amendment, which states that no person ineligible for the presidency may serve as vice president. Some academic discussions have considered rare technical scenarios related to succession and eligibility. None are viewed as feasible. Any attempts technical scenarios related to succession and eligibility. None are viewed as feasible. Any attempt would almost certainly be challenged and blocked legally. In other words, the people who are telling you this kind of stuff, you shouldn't listen to them because they're lying to you for clicks or for power or for whatever, and they're making you actively stupider.