The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election Has Already Begun for Donald Trump
Everything Donald Trump is currently doing serves this purpose.
Becoming President of the United States is the goal of a lifetime.
All politicians who devote their lives to American politics probably have deep inside them this secret goal of one day reaching the highest level of the State.
As their political careers progress, many realize that the goal is too high. Some, on the other hand, realize that their chances are very real. So they continue to dream and move forward to conquer this ultimate goal in their lives.
Those who finally make it to the final sprint are closer to their dream than ever.
Since there is only one winner in a presidential election, the unfortunate finalist sees his dream vanish when he has never been so close to conquering it.
Therefore, you will understand that it is not easy for a candidate to accept defeat in a presidential election. To have come so close to his or her dream, and to finally have to give it up is something psychologically hard to take.
A defeat in the presidential election leaves indelible marks
A few weeks after losing the 2016 presidential election against Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton still confessed to being tormented by her defeat:
“There are times when all I want to do is scream into a pillow.”
Walter F. Mondale, who was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1984, once asked George S. McGovern how long it took him to get over his 1972 defeat by Richard Nixon.
George S. McGovern replied simply this:
“I’ll let you know when it happens.”
So losing a presidential election is something that haunts you for years. Regardless of the difficulty of the defeat, all past defeated candidates have conceded their defeat.
Some in such a powerful way that they came out of defeat even stronger.
A dignified concession speech makes the loser grow up
This was the case with John McCain's concession speech in which he wished Barack Obama the best in 2008. Here is a particularly strong excerpt from John McCain's concession speech:
“Sen. Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.”
John McCain's speech reminded all Americans, and even the rest of the world, that words can unite and inspire.
An unconventional president, to put it mildly, Donald Trump decided to continue doing nothing like the others. It's been almost a week since Joe Biden's victory, but Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede defeat to Joe Biden.
With his attitude of defiance, Donald Trump is once again attacking American democracy.
Donald Trump attacks American democracy while the numbers are implacable
Yet the numbers are relentless. Joe Biden got just over 77 million votes, while Donald Trump has to settle for 72 million votes. Trump's score, however, is no disgrace, as it also breaks the previous record for the number of votes a presidential candidate has received.
That record belonged to Barack Obama, who received 69 million votes in his 2008 election.
Donald Trump feels that his ideas remain extremely popular. Trumpism is an enduring trend that has profoundly changed the Republican Party. The fact that Donald Trump could leave politics after a defeat will not change that. Trumpism will outlast Donald Trump's defeat.
Donald Trump does not want to hear about defeat.
Donald Trump maintains the illusion in the minds of his supporters
On his Twitter account, Donald Trump keeps mentioning that he and his supporters will win this presidential election in 2020. On November 10, 2020, Donald Trump tweeted this for example:
“WE WILL WIN!”
Before continuing with this new tweet suggesting to his base that the result of the election was not yet known:
“RESULTS START TO COME IN NEXT WEEK”
However, the results have already been known for several days.
Given the current results, and while waiting for surprises following the recounts in some states, Joe Biden will get 306 electors against 232 to Donald Trump. In 2016, Donald Trump had obtained 306 electors against 232 in Hillary Clinton :
At the time, Donald Trump had described his victory as a "landslide". Joe Biden was much more modest than Donald Trump at the time following his victory. Joe Biden knows indeed that the hardest part starts for him and Kamala Harris following this election.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will have to work hard to reconcile these two Americas which appear more divided than ever after 4 years of Trump presidency.
What is Donald Trump talking about?
Donald Trump's multiple recourses will not change the outcome of the vote
Donald Trump is surely referring to the ongoing recounts in several swing states, as well as the lawsuits filed by his supporters in different states to denounce massive frauds of which nobody can obviously provide proof.
Once again, the numbers are relentless for the Trump camp.
To hope to swing the presidential election on his side, Donald Trump must return at least 3 states. While the results have been close in many swing states, the differences are too wide for a recount to change the game in those where Donald Trump supporters have filed lawsuits.
Donald Trump is behind Joe Biden for 146,000 votes in Michigan, 43,000 in Pennsylvania, and 36,000 in Nevada. The recounts will not change the result in these swing states.
So what is Donald Trump trying to do by continuing to lock himself into this strategy that seems to be lost in advance?
Donald Trump is horrified by the defeat, but his current attitude is above all strategic
First of all, we must not neglect the psychological side of the matter. Donald Trump divides the world into two categories: winners and losers. He absolutely does not want to end up in the second category.
By conceding defeat, Donald Trump would become a loser in the eyes of the world. He wouldn't be able to stand it. So Donald Trump prefers to make up a conspiracy theory story that makes him think that he wasn't honestly lost, but rather robbed.
This should help him to better face defeat since it is an injustice.
Nevertheless, I also think Donald Trump is now looking further ahead. Donald Trump got 72 million votes. That's huge. No Republican candidate has ever received so many votes in the presidential election. Trumpism is still extremely popular, and Donald Trump wants to take advantage of it.
Donald Trump wants to have an impact on American politics in the coming months. If he concedes defeat, Donald Trump would lose much of the support of his base.
To ensure the loyalty of his base, while keeping it united around him, Donald Trump must remain within this conspiracy theory explaining that victory was stolen from him and his supporters.
Donald Trump had started planting the seed before the election, and since then it has germinated well since 70% of Republicans now believe that Joe Biden's victory was not honestly obtained. By undermining Joe Biden's legitimacy, Donald Trump can continue to weigh in and maintain his grip on the Republican Party.
Donald Trump raises funds to finance his post-presidential political operations
While the appeals of the Trump camp and its supporters will eventually fail in courts, Donald Trump continues to raise a lot of money for support campaigns. Emails are sent non-stop every day to his supporters, as are Facebook messages.
Those who have had the idea to dig deeper may have discovered that the money Donald Trump has raised in the last few days is being redirected to "Save America", a political action committee formed on Monday that aims to pay for Donald Trump's post-presidential election operations.
This money collected will allow Donald Trump to remain active in American political life.
His final goal will be to run for the 2024 presidential election to get his revenge. The fact of remaining active in politics could also serve him in the prosecution of the New York state prosecutors which will resume as soon as he leaves the White House on January 20, 2021.
Donald Trump will then be able to argue that these lawsuits are partisan and are only intended to harm him to prevent him from defending his ideas. This would have the gift of reinforcing his image with his base.
Within the GOP, its most loyal allies are already talking about 2024 for Donald Trump
Within the GOP, his most loyal allies are already talking about a candidacy for 2024. Top US Republican senator Lindsey Graham encouraged President Donald Trump to seek a 2024 White House bid if his legal challenges "fall short":
“I would encourage him to think about running again in 2024.”
The presidential election of 2024 has therefore already begun for Donald Trump.
With a Senate that is expected to remain Republican, although this will be officially decided in the second round of the election in Georgia on January 5, 2021, Joe Biden will have a hard time passing the reforms he wanted to reduce inequalities in the United States.
Republican Senators who would have the audacity to cooperate with Joe Biden for the good of the United States would be immediately dismissed for their lack of loyalty to Donald Trump.
Prevented from carrying out his policy for 4 years, Joe Biden would probably find himself in a situation of failure which would benefit Donald Trump who has already begun to undermine his legitimacy by leaving doubt about his election.
Donald Trump's current attitude, which is undermining American democracy, shows once again what he really is: someone chaotic and classless who puts his personal interests first no matter what.
Some reading:
Donald Trump’s Strategy Is Now Clear: It’s You and Me Against the World - The prospect of candidacy in 2024 is growing.
The Two Reasons Why Donald Trump Still Refuses to Concede His Defeat to Joe Biden: Psychology and strategy come into play here.
The 6 Great Habits to Adopt Now to Make Money Your Best Ally Rather Than Your Worst Enemy: It is time to take control of your money destiny.
Joe Biden Will Succeed Donald Trump, but U.S.-China Relations Will Continue to Worsen: Xi Jinping has no illusions.