Donald Trump knows he’s going to “lose” on November 8. He does. We know from his past Twitter patterns, this is someone who obsessively tracks the polls as much as some of us do in here.
But “lose” is in “scare quotes” for a reason. Will he win by “losing”? Will he win, from a first-person perspective, as a capital-N Narcissist who wants nothing more than to be the 24/7 venerated King of his populace, the angry white crowds who turn out for his big rallies, all fired-up and ready-to-hate?
Very possibly.
And when you put all the seemingly inchoate pieces together it makes sense:
- The accurate perception that this man has ZERO interest in actual “Presidenting” (doing the job) if hypothetically elected
- The Trump-centric campaign, Trump-centric convention, Trump-centric staffing choices, Trump-centric messaging
- Today’s announcement that Trump’s “discipline guy” (Manafort) is getting sidelined and his Breitbart buddy (Bannon) is taking CEO role…. coupled with the news that Trump is now tighter than ever with Roger Ailes
- His “If I lose, I’ve got stuff to do” rhetoric of last week, and his not-so-veiled “F.U.” to the GOP establishment at every step of the way all this past year
- Notice what he loves the most: Adulation/Attention, Anger, Demagoguery, Blunt Nasty Uncensored Tabloid/WWF-style rhetoric and tone
- Notice he is someone who will do whatever the f--k he wants to do,
- Put it all together,
And it all becomes clear. Donald Trump’s goal was never the actual office, never the job of actually doing the US Presidency. His goal was to build for himself the ultimate springboard into becoming the next, and possibly the Bigly-est Ever, King of RightWingNutJob White America. And to become even wealthier and every bit as influential and dominant in the national conversation as he is today.
Trump might “win” big — in terms of using the GOP, using the media, using America’s political system — using all of this to do what he wants to do.
Roger Ailes’ sudden downfall could not have come at a better time…. for Trump. Look for more clues toward some relationships between Fox, Breitbart, and Trump himself, as his “defeat” comes into view. Sure he will fight ugly, lose ugly — all in the service of building that springboard.
And what he springs onto, and how big and loud and influential it will ultimately be, will be an unending migraine headache for the Republican Party…. those who actually do want to get elected and stay elected and govern. TrumpTV or TrumpMedia or whatever he launches, won’t make it easy for them as they struggle to survive amid America’s changing racial and generational demographics.
Trump will “lose”… and then he will do the thing he had always set out to do, which was never this. He will aim to become King of RWNJ White America. A remnant empire where the ugly is brought and the rally never ends.