Just today an item has been popping up on my news feed that “Republican operatives” are speculating that Trump may drop out / not run. The reporting seems to have started with Charles Gasparino from Fox News but has been picked up by other sites.
What do you all think about this possibility? Normally I don’t trust Fox News, but speculation that he will drop out can’t be something he wants to see. Maybe this is a trial balloon of sorts that the rats are starting to flee a sinking ship?
Trump won the Republican nomination/primary for 2020. Since the Republicans have a sitting president, this is just a formality, and the convention hasn’t been held yet. Still, how could the Republicans choose a successor without giving Republican primary voters their say?
Trump will not give up. He does have resolve, it only on holding onto power.
Be still my heart . . .
I can see this discussion as wishful thinking by some in the GOP. They can see the writing on the wall and desperately want to hang onto power. Maybe they think if Trump steps back they can fast-track Mitt into the nomination (I honestly think he would have more of a chance against Biden). Otherwise, I don’t see any rising stars in the wings that could get any traction, and the clock is ticking.
I’m putting this down to wishful thinking by Fox and the conservatives they represent. They’d like to be able to run with a different candidate.
But the Republicans are pretty much stuck with Trump at this point. He’s already got the primary votes so they would have to really break the rules at the convention in order to replace him. They would probably be willing to break the rules if they thought it would work but that’s doubtful.
Trump would not cooperate. He’s no Lyndon Johnson. Johnson was an experienced politician who could see he would lose if he ran and he also had a legacy he cared about. So he was willing to step aside.
Trump lacks a sense of realism. He seems to expect he will win so he has no reason to withdraw. And even if he believed he would lose, he still wouldn’t sacrifice himself for the Republican party or anyone else. As far as Trump’s concerned, the Republican party will cease to matter the day he leaves office. He won’t care who gets elected after he’s gone.
I don’t think they’d go with Romney. While a lot of Republicans probably agree with his opinions about Trump, they don’t like him saying it publicly. There’s a circle the wagons mentality at work.
I also don’t feel Pence could step in, even though he would be the obvious heir. But at this point being Trump’s heir is a liability not an asset.
A speculation? Paul Ryan. He was seen as a viable candidate just a few years back. And he been out of politics since 2018 which means he’s managed to avoid being tainted as either being pro-Trump or anti-Trump. He could plausibly present himself as a return to normal conservative standards.
Joe Scarborough speculated that Trump might perhaps resign prior to the election, because he hates losing so much.
This smells much like the 3 weeks Kim Jong Un was in “grave condition” A false story to see who came sniffing out of the woodwork looking for power. And a chance to change the daily narrative from one that is being called a treasonable offense. Remember…this is sweeps week.
While I think it’s unlikely, I don’t think it’s far-fetched. Trump doesn’t give a rip about the GOP or about leaving them in the lurch. Trump cares about Trump, period. If it becomes glaringly obvious he’s going to lose, he’d rather take his marbles and go home to the accompaniment of flattering protests from his core supporters than to suffer an ignoble loss he can’t spin to boost his ego.
Not a ghost of a chance.
Trump’s ego would never allow him to pass on the chance for a second term.
At this point 4 years ago, it looked like he was going to lose. Didn’t drop out. It was that way all the way to Election Day. Still didn’t drop out. I don’t expect him to do it this time either.
In fact, if he loses this time, he’ll probably run again in 2024. Assuming he’s still healthy enough, that is.
Republicans had their chance to be rid of un-indicted co-conspirator Donald John Trump. Now they get to dance with the devil that brung them.
The best part is that by even voicing the possibility of him not running, they’re fertilizing the seeds of doubt. And risk setting off another dotardly tantrum.
Too many people around Trump have their livelihoods wrapped up in Trump thinking that they’re doing a great job for him for the campaign. So they’ll buy useless ad time in the DC area for Trump to watch, and commission bogus polls to show Trump that he’s actually in good shape for the election. They’ll milk him for as long as they can, probably including going past the election.
These are highly, highly dishonest people. They’ll tell Trump what he wants to hear, and he’ll have little idea of what’s really going on in the real world. I don’t think he’ll drop out.
IMO, anyway.
If Pence thinks he will inherit the title if Trump steps down, he is an idiot.
Yes, and…?
I follow the RCP aggregate poll of Trump approval. As of today, June 29, he is at 56.0 disapprove, 41.2 approve, for a net -14.8 spread.
This is the worst spread in this aggregate since early March 2018.
But this will not convince Trump to do anything other than what he’s already doing. He won’t even see these polls, and if he mistakenly turns his TV box to the wrong channel and views them, he’ll just call them fake.
He’ll never withdraw.
Ego? check
Dishonest supporters? check
Stupidity? check
Trump doing that? Highly doubt. But the fact that Fox is giving the suggestion coverage is something.
It looks like the move to give some running down ballot space some support for distancing themselves from Trump is in progress.
I said a couple of years ago (back when people were still telling me to “Give trump a chance!”) that the only way he would resign is if he could do it in a way that would still show him to be a WINNER. The one thing he cannot stand is to be a loser, or more to the point, BE SEEN AS A LOSER.
The question becomes, “how can trump step down and still be SEEN AS A WINNER?”
One way (a fantasy just off the top of my head) is if the Nobel Committee could be persuaded to give him the Nobel Peace Prize if he steps down. No, that won’t happen, nor should it, but that’s the level of WINNING that he would have to perceive in order for him to leave the presidency a winner.
Okay, that idea was nuts.
But it would take something just that nuts to get him to voluntarily step down. He has to go out on top-- or at least he has to see it as being on top. Johnson did it for the good of the country. Trump doesn’t have that in him. But I personally think he would like an out.
Put on your thinking caps, peeps, and come up with a way to get trump to leave the WH as a WINNER (in his own mind).
Yeah, we’re too late into the process for this to happen. LBJ quit in late March. Trump has to be holding on to the idea that he could pull another miracle out of his ass; or, possibly, that he can only lose by 3-4% of the popular vote and 50 or less EC votes. That way, he can bitch and moan all he wants about how “it wuz RIGGED!” and maybe some of his followers will believe him.
Right until Election Day 2016, everyone thought he was going to lose. He was only running to raise his profile. In particular, there was a story that he wanted to build a Fox-like television network.