We all had to facepalm when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Congress passed the 22nd Amendment to prevent President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from being re-elected, especially because FDR died years before.
According to AOC, Congress amended the Constitution to prevent FDR from being re-elected:
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 31, 2019
"They had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt dd not get reelected."
(Reminder, FDR died in office in 1945; the 22nd Amendment came in 1947) pic.twitter.com/DImHj0caVy
Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (WY) made a comment that we know to be true: Democrats like to let dead people vote.
We knew the Democrats let dead people vote. According to @AOC, they can run for President, too. https://t.co/69VBYIDtGT
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) March 31, 2019
Naturally, AOC had to defend her comment instead of admitting she was wrong.
Hey Rep. Cheney,
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 1, 2019
I see from your dead people comment that you get your news from Facebook memes, but the National Constitution Center + Newsweek are just two of many places where you can clarify your misunderstanding of the history of the 22nd Amendment: https://t.co/Je6mHFJ687 https://t.co/np1XtgLpm1
Newsweek wrote an entire piece about how Ocasio-Cortez was right but even though she wasn't:
“FDR did die in office in ‘45 and the 22nd amendment did come in ‘47 but Congress did start the legislative process in 1944 prior to his death so that he would not be reelected,” another Twitter user wrote in Ocasio-Cortez’s defense. “It was not ratified soon enough and he won in ‘44. AOC did not misspeak, friends.”
The National Constitution Center also had Ocasio-Cortez’s back. On its website, the nonpartisan organization explained: “Talk about a presidential term-limits amendment started in 1944, when Republican candidate Thomas Dewey said a potential 16-year term for Roosevelt was a threat to democracy.
The 22nd Amendment was drafted after FDR was re-elected but passed before he died. It wasn't put in place to keep him from winning re-election. There's a phrase in the amendment that is clearly referencing FDR.
Here's what the 22nd Amendment says (emphasis mine):
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Alex Griswald at the Washington Free Beacon said it perfectly: Newsweek defended AOC for a comment she did not make.
The Newsweek piece does an excellent job defending a comment AOC never made. Had she claimed that the 22nd Amendment was passed in reaction to FDR's many terms, or that it was first proposed during his presidency, she would indeed be on solid ground.
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) April 1, 2019
Instead her claim was that FDR/New Deal was so popular, "they had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt did not get reelected." It's hard to read that as anything other than her saying the 22nd Amendment was successful in blocking FDR's reelection.
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) April 1, 2019
And this, folks, is who the Democrats wants as the future of their party.