US elections: Donald Trump defied political gravity but now returns to earth

Donald Trump, who defied political gravity with his extraordinary rise from reality star and businessman to the presidency, has returned to earth.

In the end, his flurry of raucous demonstrations, an unprecedented turnout operation, and sheer force of will failed to overcome the reality of his enduring unpopularity and a raging pandemic that has killed more than 236,000 people in the United States and left them jobless. to millions.

Yet Trump’s scathing policy – his taunts on Twitter, his vengeful drive to punish enemies, his approach to the independent world – left its mark on the confines of government and beyond. And his better-than-expected electoral performance against Democrat Joe Biden suggests that his impact is likely to resonate for generations in politics, government, and politics, even in defeat.

It remains to be seen what Trump intends to do after his term ends on January 20. Retired to the golf course? Launch your own television network? Laying the foundations to run again? And how fiercely will he try to contest his fate?

“I would absolutely expect the president to stay involved in politics. It would absolutely put him on the short list of people who are likely to run in 2024,” Trump’s former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said in an online interview with the Institute. of International and European Affairs.

“He does not like to lose”. Trump retains the megaphone of his Twitter account, a powerful Fox News platform, and the unwavering backing of his loyal fan base, who may never accept defeat after spending months insisting there was no way he could legitimately lose and even falsely claim an early victory.

On Saturday (US time), Trump refused to give in to President-elect Biden and instead promised unspecified legal challenges to try to reverse the outcome of the race. Until a successor emerges to lead the Republicans, probably not until the resolution of the Republican primaries in 2024, Trump remains the de facto leader of a party that has reshaped in his image.

“Even in defeat, Donald Trump exceeded expectations and helped other Republicans do the same,” said Republican consultant Michael Steel, who has worked on Capitol Hill and campaigning.

“He will continue to be a powerful force within the party.” Still, the loss of Trump is likely to cause a reckoning over how much of Trumpism the party should embrace in the future, especially since Republicans could retain control of the Senate and win additional seats in the House.

If Biden had won in a blowout, that would have put “the wind in the back of many Republicans who said that character counts and that the Republican Party should never put their faith in someone who pushed the limits like Donald Trump,” the former secretary said. White House press release. Ari Fleischer, who served under former President George W. Bush.

But because it was closer, he predicted that the party would likely “continue to be plagued by a divide between insiders and outsiders, between the establishment and Trump supporters who blame the establishment. And the role of the future former president will be a A big question mark because if you decide to stay active, despite the near loss, you are still powerful and effective, especially for Republicans.

Meanwhile, it’s unclear whether Trump will accept the election results or continue to challenge them as he spends the next three months as a boorish president. Those who know him well say there is little chance that he will wander into the night in silence.

“When Donald Trump loses, there will never be a peaceful transition to power,” said Michael Cohen, a lawyer and repairman turned Trump critic. He predicted that Trump would do everything in his power to claim that Democrats or other forces “stole” his election, just as Trump was trying to sow discord while the votes were being counted.

Cohen said Trump was probably also aware that after losing the presidency, he could “get a plethora of lawsuits, both federal and state.” Trump is already facing lawsuits charging him with sexual assault and defamation, and the New York attorney general is investigating the finances of his Trump Organization.

Barbara Res, a longtime Trump associate who recently wrote a book about her experience working with him, speculated that the president might leave the county before Biden’s inauguration and perhaps pursue his own media empire. “He could wear whatever he wanted. He could say what he wanted. It’s almost like Twitter explodes into everything else,” he said.

As for the future of Republicans, Steel said the party will likely seek leaders who combine elements of Trump’s populist agenda with policies that appeal to a broader swath of the electorate. “The challenge will be to identify the popular, durable and practical parts of its agenda and marry them with policies and arguments that appeal to the broader electorate that the party will need to win domestically in the future,” he said.

Under Trump, the Republican Party fully embraced the populist wave set in motion by the Tea Party rebels in previous years, shifting its focus from free trade and trickle-down economics to trade wars and an isolationist foreign policy. His rise opened a new path to the presidency, driven more by force of personality than politics, which was echoed even as he lost the Electoral College vote.

His nativist message and the revival of the “culture wars” demonstrated the power of the politics of division and hastened a generational political realignment. While he deepened his reach with working-class and rural white voters with his economic and racial grievances, he also turned off college-educated voters in the cities and suburbs with his sometimes rude rhetoric and endless tweets.

Still, many Republicans believed he would have won re-election had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic and the widespread belief among voters that he mishandled it. Some top Republican leaders believe that while so-called “Never Trumpeters” may celebrate the president’s defeat, Republicans are unlikely to be able to completely repudiate him, as his stances on trade, immigration and foreign policy have resonated with voters. and how close it came to getting a second victory.

It’s also unclear whether those who have flocked to the party because of Trump will remain engaged once he is no longer on the list. The race for the 2024 Republican nomination has already quietly started behind the scenes.

A wide range of candidates are testing the waters, from moderates like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, to rioters like Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton to former Trump officials like former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has become a favorite of the president’s loyal supporters in the election campaign, which means that Trump’s name could endure.

Fleischer said the party would likely look for someone with the outspoken and forceful voice of an outsider who at the same time refrains from going “so far that your tweets alienate the people who want to be for you.” Many of Trump’s supporters see his influence continue.

Yet the Trump campaign refuses to admit defeat. In a statement, they said: “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying to help him: they don’t want the truth exposed. The simple fact is that this election is far from over. “

Trump has made unsubstantiated claims for days that widespread electoral fraud tipped the election in Biden’s favor. He has pointed to ballot processing delays in some states alleging that his rival was trying to seize power, an extraordinary indictment by a sitting president who attempts to cast doubt on a fundamental democratic process.

Trump has filed a series of lawsuits in key states on the battlefield, seeking to challenge the results, and hopes that the election outcome will ultimately be decided in the Supreme Court.

President-elect Biden will address the nation later today.