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- After leaving the White House, President Donald Trump will turn the GOP into “The Apprentice,” a show where he plays, he hosts and all the candidates vie for his favor.
- To do this, he just needs to keep talking to his base.
- This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
What President Donald Trump wants to do after he leaves the White House becomes perfectly clear: He wants to turn the GOP into his old TV show, “The Apprentice.”
Trump envisions a Republican Party where anyone who wants to be anyone has to fight for his approval, like in the series. He will be both the star and the host. Forget the voters. Forget about partying in general. Prepare to see the behavior of Omarosa Manigault. That’s what Trump likes.
Over the past few weeks, there have been whispers around Washington about GOP lawmakers telling their fellow Democrats that they wish they could congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and continue our normal peaceful transition of power. But they couldn’t, because Trump would be furious. Delaware Senator Chris Coons said several GOP senators told him they couldn’t speak freely … yet.
If the GOP lets the Trump show go on, that “again” may never come. Even as a private citizen, Trump will demand absolute loyalty – whoever comes out will hear the old ‘You’re Fired’.
The show must go on and on and on
Turning the GOP into a Trump show means, of course, that all the focus, all the oxygen in the room will go to Trump. There will be no room for other Republican stars unless they are subordinate to him. And the party leadership will not have full control as it will run its base according to its own wishes.
The reason is obvious: Trump does not derive his power from the support of the GOP, but from his popularity with the grassroots, which includes many voters who do not normally show up on election day. He will continue to do the things that make him popular with these voters: He will continue to talk, tweet, and possibly hold rallies, even after leaving the White House. He has to do it not only because he enjoys doing these things, but because he is in desperate need of money to fight legal battles and pay his debts.
All of this will be pretty easy to do, which is good for Trump given his laziness. With YouTube and Twitter, he doesn’t need to do the work of building his own news network. And of course, many other platforms would love to have it. At Vanity Fair, Gabe Sherman reports that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is considering giving Trump a $ 100 million contract for a book and a Fox News show so that Trump will stop bashing the network he is once defended.
So we will not be rid of Trump. And as long as Trump is there, the GOP will be subject to its whims, which have nothing to do with what’s good for the party.
Consider reports that he could run for president again in 2024. A source told the Washington Post that Trump doesn’t give a damn about young GOP politicians who want to run, like the former UN ambassador and governor. from South Carolina Nikki Haley or Senator from Florida. Marco Rubio. He wants to keep the space to himself whether he’s running or not because he likes the attention and because he wants to keep the party under his thumb.
It sounds less like leadership and more like hazing freshmen joining a fraternity.
Trump has also told his friends that he wants people to “kiss the ring” and receive his blessing before they come to power in the party. This means that he will prioritize slavish devotion over talent, just as he did in his very incompetent White House and with his very incompetent legal team. Anyone obsequious enough will be able to come to Mar-a-Lago to gain the King’s approval or make an appearance at a gathering. Trust that the people who make this trip will not be our most honest Americans.
Republicans, your name is ‘Reek’
Since losing to Biden, Trump has essentially stopped doing the job of the presidency. Its public schedule is largely empty and it barely speaks to the American people who continue to suffer during a pandemic. When he addresses us, he remains brief and does not answer questions.
That’s all to say that we now have a glimpse of what Trump’s interest in party politics will look like when he’s no longer in government. And that is not promising.
We can clearly see now that Trump doesn’t care about other Republicans, not even those who have been loyal to him. If he did, he would be in Georgia to help Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler hold onto their seats during what promises to be a pair of tough second-round elections. They already face a challenge as the pandemic worsens and many Republican voters in Georgia do not trust mail-in voting thanks to Trump.
Instead of helping to keep control of the vitally important Senate, Trump is locked in the White House, casting doubt on the democratic process and jeopardizing their chances of winning. One of his attorneys, Lin Wood, tweets silly conspiracy theories and calls on Georgian voters to write Trump’s name at the ballot box to record their delirious anger that the presidency has been stolen from Trump.
The idea that the Republican Party should be destroyed in revenge for the loss of Trump has been a theme on right-wing social media and among Trump supporters protesting against the result of the election. They won’t let this go unless Trump calms them down. But he won’t. He’s a vengeful, petty man, and he probably blames Republicans for his downfall. He will certainly not take any responsibility for that.
This is exactly what the Republican Party deserves. Trump went from being an outcast and a laughing stock to a standard-bearer because the party couldn’t control his lust for power. The party has gone downhill and now, unsurprisingly, Trump has looked down on it. If leaders like Mitch McConnell are to regain full control of their party, they will need to show courage that we have yet to see from any of them. Until then, they will have to pretend to enjoy the show.
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