Trump's obsession with number 22 fuels false claims as report spotlights third-term push
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump has repeatedly invoked the number 22 in recent remarks, a pattern that has coincided with a string of inaccurate claims and renewed attention on his push for a third term.
The unusual fixation has raised questions because some of the statements have been factually incorrect, as per the report. It has also put fresh focus on Trump's calls to repeal the 22nd Amendment.
Trump's number 22 claims draw scrutiny
NBC News reporters Monica Alba and Caroline Kenny reported that Trump, who is both the 45th and 47th president, appears increasingly attached to the number 22.
According to the report, Trump falsely claimed Washington has 22 fountains even though the city has 18. He also said he had proved wrong 22 Nobel Prize-winning economists and claimed the military destroyed 22 ships in Iran.
Trump has referenced the number in less consequential ways as well. He spoke about a swimming pool he built 22 years ago, said he had met with 22 medical specialists and complained that a possible trip to Asia would take 22 hours.
The pattern has extended to his comments about Iran.“In June, we obliterated Iran’s nuclear capacity in Operation Midnight Hammer, you saw that. People have been waiting for 22 years to do that,” Trump told a crowd in Iowa in January.
Speaking in March about another Iranian mission, Trump said, “They call ’em mine droppers, and the mine droppers, 22, all 22, are gone.”
Trump repeatedly cites 22 in speeches
Trump also brought up the number during a Hanukkah reception while discussing military planning.
“We were practicing this, this. And the predecessors we were practicing for 22 years, they said, for 22 years they were practicing,” Trump said.
He added, “No president had the courage to let them go and do that.”
Trump continued, “They wanted to do it for 22 years, and the predecessors being the young pilots at the time, but for 22 years, three times a year, they were practicing that run.”
The report noted that presidents have long had superstitions. It cited President Franklin Roosevelt's fear of the number 13, which reportedly led him to avoid attending dinners with exactly 13 guests.
Trump's third-term comments revive 22nd Amendment fight
One area where Trump's attachment to 22 carries direct political implications is his effort to overturn the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two elected terms.
At one point during remarks at the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas, Trump floated serving again.
“Maybe we do one more term. Should we do one more?” Trump asked the audience.
“Do one more term. Well, we are entitled to it,” he continued.
Trump also repeated his claim that the 2020 election was stolen and argued that because of that, he is entitled to “my third term.”
