President Obama’s speech to La Raza this week, in which he said he was tempted to change laws on his own, drew criticism from those who are concerned about the rapid accumulation of power in the executive branch that’s occurred in the last three years. The discussion among conservatives whether Obama was serious, joking, or half-joking overshadowed the clear response La Raza members gave him—they begged him to become a dictator.

“Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own,” the president said while discussing laws against illegal immigration. He paused.

After a slow applause, the La Raza audience began a full-throated cheer.

“And believe me, right now dealing with Congress,” Obama started to say before being interrupted by chants.

“Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can!” the audience shouted, urging Obama to become, in essence, a dictator.

“Believe me,” Obama joked. “Believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting. I promise you. Not just on immigration reform. But that’s not how—that’s not how our system works.”

“Change it!” a woman begged of Obama.

La Raza members aren’t the only people that urged Obama to toss aside the Constitution and assume full control of the government. Woody Allen said it would be good if Obama “could be a dictator for a few years, because he could do a lot of good things quickly.”

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews suggested that Obama should “go in there and nationalize” the oil industry after the Gulf Oil spill, a sentiment shared by his colleague Ed Shultz, who said Obama should act like a dictator and “put the boot on the neck of BP.” Similarly, Bill Maher said Americans are stupid and Obama should ram Obamacare down their throats.

Obama can easily dismiss his comments as fantasy and jokes, but it is absolutely clear that some members of the La Raza, as well as some important people in the far left, really do want a dictatorship in this country.