President Donald Trump shared on Twitter he feels he deserves two years added to his current term in office because the first two years were “stolen” by Robert Mueller’s investigation.
What We Know…
- Trump shared conservative activist Jerry Falwell Jr’s tweet on Sunday that says he supports “reparations,” meaning Trump should receive “reparations” for the first half of his term.
- Trump retweeted Falwell and added two original tweets emphasizing his success in office and calling the investigation a “witch hunt” and “corrupt failed coup.”
- This extension of Trump’s first term violates the Constitution and has never occurred in US history. People close to Trump and White House officials have claimed Trump was not serious about the request.
- Falwell’s use of the word “reparations” is incredibly racially charged given its importance in Democratic presidential campaigns for 2020. Candidates such as Senator Cory Booker and Senator Kamala Harris have explicitly recommended the US research and pay reparations for American descendants of slaves.
- Reparations for slavery has been discussed in politics since 1865 when military orders were issued during the Civil War for the US Army to confiscate land for formerly enslaved families to settle. The debate was reopened in 1978 when former Michigan Representative John Conyers Jr. proposed a committee to study the appropriate reparations for descendants of slaves.
- The US has since provided reparations to different minority groups, most recently to Holocaust survivors in 2016.
Many people are questioning whether or not Trump is really joking about these added two years.
After the best week ever for @realDonaldTrump – no obstruction, no collusion, NYT admits @BarackObama did spy on his campaign, & the economy is soaring. I now support reparations-Trump should have 2 yrs added to his 1st term as pay back for time stolen by this corrupt failed coup
— Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) May 5, 2019
