Skip Navigation
No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
Lost_My_Mind @lemmy.world

What would happen if somebody kidnapped the president?

So, if the president dies, the procedure is that the vice president would then become president for the remainder of the term.

But what would happen if some extremist group somehow kidnapped the president (any sitting president, so this isn't targeted towards trump specifically, although I guess for the next 4 years it would be).

Like, lets say every Monday at noon, this extremist group did a live stream somehow, showing that the president is still alive, still coherent, but ballgagged so they can't just blurt out where they are.

And lets say that nobody is able to figure out where they're broadcasting from. For years.

Would that president remain president? Or would they treat them as dead, even though they're shown to be alive, and vice president becomes president for the remainder of the term?

33 comments

  • put him in a gimp suit and cuff him to a lamp pole outside a Log Cabin Republican meeting. Just to see what happens.

    Seriously, though, I suspect our would-be-kidnappers would be dead before they ever reached the prez. but the VP becomes the acting president whenever the president is incapacitated or otherwise unable to fulfill his duties, so it really doesn't matter. The VP steps up, and takes over until the president comes back. this includes for things like surgeries and such, too.

  • It's the same situation as if the president became ill or incapacitated in some way.

    This has already happened 3 4 times; once for Reagan, twice for GW Bush, and once for Biden (see comment below). In these cases it was quite brief.

    • Since that is a slightly older article, it also happened under Joe Biden.

      It also should have happened under Trump's first term, but he's a whiny bitch so it didn't.

      For fun the most common cause of "incapacitated" in these cases is for a colonoscopy.

      It's also worth clarifying that the 25th Amendment in these cases isn't automatic. The President essentially drafts a letter and then power is returned to them after.

      However in the case of the President being kidnapped, the Cabinet & Vice President could also declare incapacity and the VP would take over.

  • I am not a lawyer but this is just my read of The 25th Amendment. (Assuming normal times in which the president doesn’t command a vast cult) The 25th would probably be exercised since the president would be unable to perform his duties and discharge orders, so the Vice President would wield presidential powers without getting the title proper; this has happened before when the Prez has underwent anesthesia for routine medical procedures, but the Prez likely had written out that they would be incapacitated in advance. I don’t see anything that would apply here for the Prez to lose his title before his 4 year term expires since he wouldn’t be declared dead due to the sympathy the Gov and the People would have to rescue him. He would lose his title if the kidnappers allowed him to communicate that he is unable to fulfill his duties and discharge orders, but this might be considered invalid since it was conveyed under duress and would limit the push to rescue him.

    [Edit: I could even see martial law being declared so the Gov could search civilians’ homes, etc., without reasonable cause in order to locate the Prez. We’d probably break doors down in other countries too.]

    I assume I’m talking to either Nicolas Cage or Melakon?

33 comments