People work their whole lives to gain political office. And once they succeed, they are in it for the long run. That is the normal trajectory of a standard political candidate, but Donald Trump is not your traditional candidate.
The presumptive Republican nominee for president has bucked the standard definition of a presidential candidate. From praising unlikely presidential influences to picking fights with Disney, nothing has been conventional for him and his campaign. If all his grandstanding pays off and he does win the presidency in November, how will he be celebrating? By possibly throwing in the towel. Or at least, he’s suggesting the possibility.
In a recent interview, as reported by the The New York Times, when asked if he would decline the presidency if he beats Hillary Clinton, Trump flashed a coy smile and responded with “I’ll let you know how I feel about it after it happens.”
That non-committal response is on par for Trump, but alarming for other politicians. The Times story goes on to say this non-admission may just be another attempt by Trump to gain media attention for his campaign. This fact is entirely and probably true, but it doesn’t seem so farfetched for Trump to just throw up his hands and say ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ But Trump’s political adviser Roger Stone told The Times Trump quitting is farfetched and he would never pass up an opportunity to be in the spotlight.
“It’s going to be too late by then. If he got elected president, he’d certainly serve. I’m fairly certain about that. You think he’d resign? I don’t see that happening. There is only one star in the Donald Trump show, and that’s Donald Trump.”
Reaching the highest political office in the country that some people work their whole lives for and then passing it up would be an odd situation to witness. It almost seems like an episode of Veep is playing out in real life. Republicans already have a tense relationship with Trump, and this has to make them even more apprehensive that he is representing the party.
(Via The New York Times)