Mediaboss Marketing

Two weeks ago, I opined here that I didnt believe former President TrumpDonald TrumpGrant Woods, longtime friend of McCain and former Arizona AG, dies at 67 Super PACs release ad campaign hitting Vance over past comments on Trump Glasgow summit raises stakes for Biden deal MORE would run again in 2024. Boy, did I get some serious push-back from political friends telling me that Trump is a megalomaniac and there is no way he is not going to run in the next presidential election.

My rationale in that piece for his not running was: My hope is that Trumps massive ego will allow enough room for him to contemplate that his name is so toxic to tens of millions of Americans that his nomination might instigate massive civil unrest. If Trump does believe in our nation, as he says he does, then he should know it would be much better to sit out the election and try to use his influence to help the partys nominee.

One of my friends, who had a high-level political career, openly laughed in my face when I offered up that opinion. He, in turn, gave me a definition of a megalomaniac that he had just looked up on his phone: A megalomaniac is a pathological egotist that is, someone with a psychological disorder with symptoms like delusions of grandeur and an obsession with power.

Trump, my friend continued over a coffee, is the personification of that definition. He doesnt care if hes toxic to tens of millions of voters or who turns out in the streets to protest his run. Do you believe his ego actually allows him to logically think things through? Look at Arizona. Look at Georgia.

By Arizona my friend meant that Trump knew he had to win the state in 2020 and he also knew that the late Sen. John McCainJohn Sidney McCainGrant Woods, longtime friend of McCain and former Arizona AG, dies at 67 Will Trump choose megalomania over country? Trump attacks Meghan McCain and her family MORE, a decorated war hero, was seen as the patron saint of the state to hundreds of thousands of voters. Trump knew that if he continued to malign and insult McCain, he would turn off a great many of those voters and yet, his unchecked ego could not stop itself. Consequently, he proceeded to lose the state and its 11 electoral votes by fewer than 11,000 votes out of over 3.3 million cast.

Next, we come to Georgia. Out of almost 5 million votes cast, Trump lost the state and its 16 electoral votes by just under 12,000 votes. Gee, Ill bet he secretly wishes he hadnt demonized mail-in voting after that result. Then, after he did lose the state, he also helped flush the chances of the two Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate down the toilet.

Trump continually cried fraud while smearing Republican leaders in the state. If you were looking for a formula to depress the Republican vote, that would be one. And then, quite surreally, some of Trumps allies were urging Georgia Republicans not to vote in the Senate runoff elections elections that would determine which party would control the Senate come 2021.

No one, perhaps, was surprised to note that approximately 250,000 fewer Republicans voted in the Senate runoffs than in the general election. When we look at the final tally of those special elections and see that Sen. Jon OssoffJon OssoffWill Trump choose megalomania over country? How 'Buy American', other pro-US policies can help advocates pass ambitious climate policies Democrats jostle over health care priorities for scaled-back package MORE (D-Ga.) beat former Sen. David PerdueDavid PerdueWill Trump choose megalomania over country? I voted for Trump in 2020 he proved to be the ultimate RINO in 2021 Draft Georgia congressional lines target McBath, shore up Bourdeaux MORE (R-Ga.) by just 55,000 votes and Sen. Raphael WarnockRaphael WarnockWill Trump choose megalomania over country? Senate Democrats call for diversity among new Federal Reserve Bank presidents On The Money Democrats eye tough choices as deadline looms MORE (D-Ga.) beat former Sen. Kelly LoefflerKelly LoefflerWill Trump choose megalomania over country? I voted for Trump in 2020 he proved to be the ultimate RINO in 2021 Draft Georgia congressional lines target McBath, shore up Bourdeaux MORE (R-Ga.) by about 93,000 votes, we can safely surmise that Trump and his allies hit another level of stupid when it comes to politics.

As my friend offered to bet me that Trump will definitely run again in 2024 a bet I cowardly declined he threw in one more bit of trivia atop the pathological egotist pile: The letters for Trumps MAGA acronym are all included in megalomaniac.

Its amusing, to be sure, in a scary kind of way. All of that said, I still dont believe Trump will run for president in 2024. While the push-back I took may have helped to convince me that Trump is never going to put our country before his ego, I do believe that same ego along with his advancing age (hell turn 78 in June 2024) will force him to decline another run.

That ego might tell him: At 78 years old, we dont need a humiliating loss heaped upon us because now 90 million Democratic voters came out to crush us, while 30 million fewer Republicans voted for us in 2020 because of Trump fatigue. No, much better to not run and to continue to claim voter fraud happened in 2020 while we ride off into a Mar-a-Lago sunset.

In my estimation, Donald Trump would be wise to listen to the voice of that ego.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.

Read more here:
Will Trump choose megalomania over country? | TheHill - The Hill