Donald Trump in disarray

| 3:00 pm EST November 13, 2022
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Donald Trump and his people have spent all year periodically leaking to the media that Trump was about to imminently announce a 2024 presidential campaign. Each time the media has dutifully printed it as if it were fact. And each time, Trump has failed to announce a campaign.

Even as Trump was busy screwing up the Republicans’ midterm prospects just by still existing, he was once again leaking that he was going to announce a 2024 presidential campaign on November 15th. Sure enough, the media once again printed that leak as if it were fact. And now once again, Trump’s people are leaking that it might get delayed.

It’s not difficult to figure out what Trump has been doing. As long as he keeps leaking that he’s about to announce his campaign, he can make his supporters believe he’s running, and they’ll keep donating to him with the expectation that he’ll use it for his campaign. But as long as he doesn’t actually announce a campaign, those donations aren’t subject to campaign finance regulation scrutiny, and Trump can essentially do anything he wants with it.

These kinds of antics are nothing new for Trump. What’s disappointing is that no matter how many times Trump has falsely leaked to the media this year that he was about to announce his campaign, the media keeps running with that story every time Trump leaks it. At some point you’d think the media would have enough self respect to stop playing along with Trump’s game. But the media can’t help itself, because the prospect of Trump announcing a 2024 campaign is such a ratings goldmine – or at least it was.

Now that it’s so obvious to all that Donald Trump is no longer politically viable, and that he would only be announcing a presidential campaign as a last ditch effort to try to distract from his inevitable arrest for espionage, is that even worth much in the ratings department? That’s debatable. The media has spent two years praying for a Trump 2024 campaign announcement, so it would have an excuse to shove Trump down our throats for ratings. But most audience members would only be glued to that storyline if they fear Trump could actually win or steal the 2024 election – and at this point there’s just so little reason to fear him anymore.

It’s still entirely possible that Donald Trump will end up announcing a 2024 campaign next week, or sometime after that. Who knows? When a guy like Trump is up against a wall and only has bad options to choose from, it can be difficult to predict which of those bad options he’ll choose from. Announcing a campaign will just make it harder for him to pocket the money he’s bringing in. Not announcing a campaign means he won’t be able to yell “they’re just trying to keep me from winning” when he’s indicted. Either way Trump is on a path to prison. In that sense, who cares whether or not he announces a campaign? He’s toast either way.