In October of 2017, Chinese president Xi Jinping, created a new political ideology, which included removing presidential term limits. Effectively making President Xi Jinping; president for life. Following this monumental change in policy, President Trump made some not-so-good comments at Mar-a-Lago on March 3^rd of this year. President Trump, whilst delivering a speech to the attending republicans, confided;
“He’s [Xi Jinping] now president for life. President for life. No, he’s great, and look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”
Now, it’s no secret that I usually have no issue with Trump and regularly agree that he is performing his duties accordingly. However, this comment is horrifying, for both liberals and conservatives.
The founding fathers came from a time of monarchy and literal “king for life.” Not surprisingly, they wanted to escape the tyranny. Thus, became the Constitution and the various amendments to the said sacrosanct document.  The 22^nd Amendment restricted term limits for the President and allowed for up to 10 years of presidency.
However, Donald Trump’s March 3^rd comments blatantly disregard the reasoning and purpose for the 22^nd. What’s even more terrifying is that many of his more ardent supporters will agree with these comments without thinking about the very real negative effects. As I usually follow a lot of the more fanatical Trump supporters on social media sites, it’s very likely that these individuals will be wholeheartedly into Trump being “president for life.” That idea is something that can never become reality, whether with a conservative or liberal President.
I personally have no issue with Trump, but these comments, however innocent they may seem currently, are very worrisome overall. We have a current government where the Republicans hold the majority, and if, for whatever reason, Trump manages to take more control than he’s allotted, we could regress to the monarchy we sought to escape more than 200 years ago. Trump should both explain his comments and if he meant the worst (hinting at beginning a monarchy), apologize for even surmising this as a suggestion. The mere suggestion of creating a dictatorial or monarchical government in the United States is the antithesis of our very nature as a country and as a people.
In future political discourse from future politicians, we cannot be docile when figureheads suggest dictatorial government changes. It’s our prerogative as citizens to ensure that our liberty stays our liberty and does not decrease in potency or availability.