Consider the following hypothetical for a moment: Donald Trump loses the 2020 election to Joe Biden. It could be a narrow loss or a blowout, but Biden becomes the 46th President of the United States and Trump is forced to retreat to Mar-a-Lago and lick his wounds.
Would Trump go back to speculating in real estate? That seems doubtful since he gave up that game years ago and has instead been engaged in branding and marketing, i.e. Trump steaks, Trump wine, a clothing line.
So how could Trump actually make fortune off losing? Former marketing and advertising executive Donnie Deutsch has some thoughts on the matter, and he shared them Friday during an appearance on MSNBC, laying out the following scenario:
“Imagine if Trump loses or drops the mic — and out of those 60 million people who voted for him, 6 million join the Trump Revolutionary Party and the Trump Revolutionary Network at $6.99 a month — and he makes $600 million a year. It’s a way for him to come out and finally monetize this thing. And don’t think he won’t say to himself, ‘I’m still the president of a third of this country, but I’m going to monetize it.’ Look for the Trump Revolutionary Network: $6.99 a month. That’s Trump’s drop-the-mic moment. It’s not that crazy.”
As much as Trump has been complaining about Fox News recently, he just might start an online news outlet that he could sell subscriptions to and that would also allow him to snipe at President Biden from the comfort of his home. That’s a win-win for Trump because it enriches him and also keeps him somewhat relevant in the political world.
Alex Henderson of AlterNet notes that Trump has a strong following on Twitter, and that too can be used to monetize a loss in the 2020 election, perhaps even with the help of Fox News:
“Trump now has a whopping 82.4 million followers on Twitter, and his incessant tweeting won’t end if he loses to Biden in November. Moreover, it is entirely possible that Fox News would use him in some respect if he were voted out of office, perhaps giving Trump his own show and paying him a fortune to host it. It isn’t hard to imagine a Trump show as part of the Fox News wingnut lineup that also includes Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and others.”
Here’s what you can definitely count on if Trump loses the election to Biden: He’ll blame everyone but himself and look for suckers he can rip off. He’s done it his entire life, and as the old saying goes, leopards don’t change their spots.