SOME time before January 20, Donald Trump will have to accept the fact that he lost the 2020 US presidential election to Joe Biden, and move on.
For a man who got more than 71 million votes – the second-largest amount in US history (Biden won 75 million) – do not expect Trump to enjoy retirement in Florida.
After what is likely to be a protracted series of fruitless challenges to the election result, which he will declare invalid, Trump will not concede, but campaign for 2024.
The Republican Party, like it or not, is now Trump’s party. He did accomplish some of the GOP’s signature goals in his four years in power.
He was successful at appointing nearly 300 conservative lower court judges, along with three Supreme Court justices that changed the balance of the court 6-3 in the Republicans’ favour.
He brokered deals between Israel, and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain that were viewed as wins for the region.
He rolled back a number of environmental and other regulations that allowed major firms to work unencumbered, opening the door to higher profits. It was these regulations that when changed, clearly raised climate issues, but paid off for large multinational companies propping up the world’s stock markets.
The stock market and major US companies benefited from his signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law in 2017. Trump cut the top rate of corporate tax from 35% to 21% in a “simplification” plan. It was expected that major firms would make new investments and boost staff wages with the capital freed up by the change, but most chose not to reinvest.
So, while the Republicans did not get as much as they wanted out of the Trump administration, they did get some things to build on. However, it was the messaging on the Covid-19 pandemic, along with racial-equality matters and climate change denial, that led to Trump’s defeat in the end.
He will soon turn his focus on the development of a television platform to keep his global brand alive. He needs access to television and the ability to hold large rallies for his devotees. It is the oxygen that keeps him alive and relevant.
He is likely to start his own streaming news channel to compete with Fox News. It may begin with the Florida-based Newsmax, an outlet that is friendly to him, and it would be an easy process to rebrand the network.
In the media world, there is already talk that Trump could land Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and even Laura Ingraham from the Fox News prime-time schedule. That would also give a platform to Donald Trump Jr, who many see as a possible player in the run for the White House in 2028.
The network would offer a streaming option at around US$8 per month, which, when you look at a universe of nearly 71 million voters, could generate millions of dollars a month with just a fraction of those who had voted for Trump.
Add to the television revenues the money that can be generated from his rallies on a regular basis, and you have a “kingmaker”.
It remains to be seen how much of Trump’s second act comes to pass, but one thing is for certain: he is not going away. He will troll Biden and the Republicans online and through his other media platforms. – The Vibes, November 11, 2020
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy award-winning producer and broadcaster who has covered every presidential election since 1976. He is The Vibes’ US correspondent
