One of these days, either before or after Orange Shithead (OS) announces that he will or won’t run again in 2024, some political pundit or journalist will take the trouble to point out that Trump’s ability to win national elections is about as good as his ability to make a buck in the airline business.
Remember Trump Shuttle? This was a fleet of 17 planes that ran between New York City and Boston or D,C, from 1989 until 1991, when Trump defaulted on the company’s debt and the whole deal fell apart.
Now we have a detailed interview and Trump snow-job in New York Magazine where he says that he can’t believe how many people want him to run again. “The enthusiasm and the crowds are bigger than they have ever been,” he says, “I made America great again and I may have to do it again.”
He may ‘have to do it’ again. Do what? Convince a bunch of putzes like that three-percenter jerk who showed up at last week’s Select Committee hearing and explained why he came to D.C. on January 6th to make sure that the fraudulent election was overturned?
Trump has been the POS/GOP candidate in two national elections. In 2016 he received 46.09% of the popular vote. In 2020 he received 46.86% of the popular vote. Obama won two national elections and each time received more than 50% of the popular vote. So did George Bush when he won in 2004.
And by the way, for all the noise about how Joe’s campaign stole all those votes in 2020, how come nobody has ever asked whether the Trump campaign didn’t steal some votes? You’re going to tell me that an election which had a team that included Roger Stone did anything by the book? Are you serious?
Remember how Rudy Giuliani started off ‘stop the steal’ by showing up in front of a ‘four seasons’ landscaping business that was across the street from a porno shop when he was supposed to be at Philadelphia’s Four Seasons hotel? This was how well organized the Trump operation was in 2020 and OS is going to run again?
But before you dismiss Trump as just shooting his mouth off with nothing behind it at all, keep one thing in mind. Trump doesn’t run for President because he wants to win. OS doesn’t really worry about the end result.
This is a guy who spends every day thinking about building his brand which happens to be his name. And you build a brand by keeping your brand name out there, no matter whether it sells or not.
When was the last time that someone built a brand by using his name? Bill Gates didn’t use his name when he launched Microsoft. Bezos doesn’t have his name on the sides of all those Amazon delivery trucks. How come Wal Mart isn’t called Walton Mart?
Maybe I’m wrong, but the last time someone put his name on a mass-market consumer product was when the guy’s name was Henry Ford. And the only thing he ever tried to sell was a car.
Know how many products Trump has tried to sell over the years? In 2015, Trump had agreements with 19 different companies who were paying him to distribute their products using his name.
Remember Trump vodka? How about Trump mattresses? Then there was ‘Success,’ a Trump-branded ‘eau de toilette’ spray. According to the WaPo, only two of those agreements are still in effect; the rest of the crap is being sold off on eBay – where else?
I just did an eBay search for Trump 2024 flags and came up with more than 1,800 listings. So obviously, if you run for President, win, or lose, you can still use your name to build a brand.
And this is what Trump’s political activity is all about. Maybe, just maybe someone covering Orange Shithead for the Fake News will finally get it right.