Monday on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” host Bret Baier asked Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett if the Constitution rules out presidential third terms.
Baier said, “For the folks who say, well, the founders were dealing with two completely different problems back then, they were not contemplating what a country could look like. A decades decades later. You know they want a living, breathing Constitution that changes. How do you respond to that?”
Coney Barrett said, “You know, the genius of our Constitution. And I talk about this in the book when I describe originalism and describe our written Constitution, is that it’s written at varying levels of generality. So sometimes it’s very specific. The president has to be at least 35 years old, but sometimes it’s very general. We’re protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. We have freedom of speech, and to have freedom of speech doesn’t mean that you have freedom only to pass out pamphlets on a town square. It means you have freedom to be on broadcast news.”
Baier said, “Right, and the 22nd Amendment says you can only run for office for two terms.”
Coney Barrett said, “True.”
Baier said, “You think that’s cut and dried?”
Coney Barrett said, “Well, you know, that’s what the amendment says, right? You know, after FDR had four terms, that’s what that amendment says.”
Follow Pam Key on X @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.