President Donald Trump on Thursday said he has the “right” to run for a third term if he wants to despite the fact that the U.S. Constitution expressly forbids it.

“I don’t know who’s gonna be your next president,” Trump said at a rally in Iowa. “And I think the law said, I’m not 100% sure, but I think the law says that I’m not allowed to run again.”

So far, that’s correct: The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution clearly forbids a third term for Trump, which hasn’t stopped him from selling Trump 2028 merch, posting Trump 2028 images and memes, and musing about the possibility publicly.

Trump said he “studied” the phrasing of the Constitution, calling it “quite concise” and with “not a lot of wiggle room.”

“It says something to the effect that under no circumstances and for any reason will you even consider thinking about running for president,” Trump said, then created his own wiggle room. “Well, the one thing is different: They cheated us on the second one because we won it three times.”

Trump: I don't know who's gonna be your next president, and I think the law says I'm not allowed to run again. I studied that phrase forever. One thing is different. They cheated us on the second one. And we won three times. I think I have the right to run again because they… pic.twitter.com/m4sAApKOUs

Trump has repeatedly, for years, and without evidence, claimed he won the 2020 election.

He lost.

But he claimed that because “they” cheated, he can run again.

“So I think I have the right to run again,” he said. “I think I have the right to run again cuz they cheated. They cheated. They rigged the election.”

The crowd cheered.

Trump has a long history of crying fraud not just over the 2020 election, but any vote he lost. He’s claimed, for example, that Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) victory over him in the 2016 Iowa caucuses were the result of “fraud” and demanded “a new election.” He’s even falsely claimed that he would have won California in the presidential election if not for the state’s “very crooked election system.”

He lost the reliably blue state by literally millions of votes in each of his three presidential runs.

Trump has flip-flopped on a potential ― and unconstitutional ― 2028 run. He’s publicly flirted with the notion, as he did on Thursday, but also at times seemed to acknowledge that he can’t.

“The law is very strong on that. I’d love to run, but the law is very strong,” he said over the summer. “I get asked by everyone, even tonight, they’re screaming at the event, ‘2028!’ No, everybody wants me to do it, but the law is very strong.”

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