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?

  • Deconceptualist@lemm.eeEnglish
    17·
    15 hours ago

    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.

    • MimicJar@lemmy.world
      11·
      16 hours ago

      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.