Trump obviously believes that he is going to lose. He has continually refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power in that event. In the debate he wouldn’t even commit to not challenging the results until the states certify the vote counts. He told the Proud Boys to “stand down and standby” in case he needs them if he loses.
New ads featuring Don Jr. have a picture of him holding an assault rifle as he says that his father needs “able body men and women” to keep watch over the voting and vote counting to keep the election from being stolen from his father. The Republican-controlled legislature in battleground state Pennsylvania has even set up an election supervision committee which many believe will advocate that the legislature discredit the voice of the voters in their state if Biden wins and send their own slate of Trump electors to the Electoral College.
However, while Trump obviously intends to contest the election when he loses, he and his advisors know that it won’t work. When the Secretaries of State certify the results of the voting in their individual states that will be the final word. There is exceedingly little chance that the election will be overturned regardless of who is sitting on the Supreme Court. So why the charade?
The answer is simple. If and when Trump loses the election, he has to save face. He can’t be seen by his supporters as a “loser”. First of all, he has a bad case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder; Trump can’t face the fact that after four years in the White House the entire nation rejected him. However, there is an even more important financial factor in play.
As his tax returns indicate, Trump is in financial trouble. The hundreds of millions of dollars that he earned on The Apprentice are gone. He has already sold the vast majority of the stocks he owned which were also worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He is pouring the money he earns from Trump-branded businesses around the world into his hotel in Washington DC and his 13 Trump-branded golf courses. If his tax returns are to be believed those businesses are hemorrhaging vast amounts of money every year. Loans on those businesses amounting to $421 million with over $300 million are coming due in less than four years and he is personally on the hook for most of it.
Trump is not a good businessman, but he has been extremely successful in selling himself and his brand. The majority of the money he has earned was from his 14 years on The Apprentice – a total of $427 million. In addition, that TV reality show helped him promote his Trump name brand which he sold for use on properties of which he has no ownership interests. Given that he isn’t going to make much money in real estate except by selling his name, to build up his wealth Trump has to get back into the entertainment business. I am not sure what form that will take, but surely it will be something where he can capitalize on the rapport he has built up with the 20% to 25% of the US population that idolizes him. He can’t afford to be seen by those people as a LOSER.
The solution to all of these problems is simple. After he loses the election he will forever claim that the election was stolen from him by the Democratic Party and that the ‘deep state” put him in that position where he might in the first place. And of course his rabid supporters will believe him.
Cajun (Rick Guilbeau) 10/1/2020