Kudos for that. But let's not forget that Cheney helped lay the groundwork for Trump's aggressive, extra-constitutional power grab coupled with disdain for the Congress. Before Trump, it was Cheney arguing that a president deserved maximum use of executive power.

A lot of the attention today will focus on how Cheney ended up outside of the MAGA Republican Party, and how he publicly criticized Donald Trump as an authoritarian thug.

From his energy task force, which refused to abide by FACA to the most famous of his actions--taking back a deal Bush made with John McCain to end the torture of enemy detainees, Cheney was at the center of it.

Until the Trump administration, the Bush administration had exceeded all previous administrations *combined* in the number of separate provisions of law they refused to execute because it infringed upon the "unitary executive." thecre.com/pdf/20060119...

It is his role as VP where Cheney showed up the most in my own research on the unitary executive theory. He and his attack dog David Addington advanced a wholesale reinterpretation of presidential power.

Or how he managed to get the hapless Joe Lieberman to agree on Meet the Press to accept *only* military ballots without a postmark after the election in Florida, and not all overseas ballots? You could feel victory slipping from Gore's hands as a result

And who can forget that he was tasked to find W a running mate, which allowed him access to all the sensitive details of potential running mates, only to end up taking the job himself? Who knows how helpful that information was when leveraging the WH position in tough negotiations?

And then in the lead up to the Iraq War in 2003, where he played Judith Miller of the @nytimes.com to become a tool for the public relations campaign to support invading Iraq. How many times did Cheney point to the Times as evidence of a weapons program in Iraq?

Anyone who studies the media and politics had to include case studies where Cheney stage managed the Persian Gulf War with the press, coming up with coverage from the rear and Potemkin press pools after battles had occurred. "Smart Bombs" just didn't invent itself.

Or his willingness to throw the prerogatives of Congress under the bus to advance the cause of presidential power, as he did in his authorship of the House minority report on Iran Contra, where he made Congress the villain of the story. nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/182...

If the framing shifts from "Trump is a strategic genius" to "Trump is a mentally unstable nut" then I am certain he would move on to something else.

Instead, if they wish to continue to report on it, then why not frame it as lunacy? "Trump continues to push an unhinged theory about a possible 3d. term. Is it time we start worrying about his mental health?"

If the media wishes to continue to report on a 3d term, the least they could do is to change the framing of it. Right now their frame is that it is a ripe topic for debate--they bring on Democrats, Republicans, and academics to weigh in on the possibilities.

6. Trump either believes he can get the 28th Amendment passed nullifying the 22nd Amendment (not likely) or at some point in the next couple of years he plans on suspending the Constitution.

5. Trump keeps bringing it up because it is all part of the grift--how many "Trump 2028" hats has he sold? Shirts? At what point do we see fundraising emails disguised as a poll asking his supporters whether they want a 3d term? This 3d term talk is just one more way he can fleece his supporters.

4. Third term talk sucks up the media oxygen for any other story, keeping Trump front and center on an issue he can control. NPR's Tamara Keith was on air this AM bragging about her question to try and get Trump to commit to whether he believes in a third term or not.

3. He is freezing the field so that one of his chosen successors (Vance or Rubio, as he says) will have the best chance of winning the nomination. The more he talks about a third term--fanciful as it is--the money people are not going to be seen pumping money into someone else's campaign.

2. Trump is bringing up a third term run to forestall his lame duck status. He is quickly reaching the point where his power takes a nose dive, so he is trying to scare his Party to continue to do his bidding. I think this is a realistic explanation.

1. They are snickering that it will be Eric or Don Jr who will be POTUS in 2029, making the "Trump 2028" hat technically correct. Owning the libs for fixating on the wrong Trump.