Joe Biden is the President-elect. He is working with his transition team and outsider advisors to name cabinet secretaries, key West Wing posts and other political appointees who will take over the government on Jan. 20. And even though Donald Trump refuses to concede the election, The New York Times has reported that he is already eyeing 2024.
As Trump and his sycophants put on a fighting finale for his more hardcore supporters, Trump has been frantically sending out emails and text messages asking for donations to fund lawsuits across the country. But in reality, some of this money is being funneled into the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a new political action committee the president may use to influence the midterm elections in 2022, and maybe even the Republican presidential primaries four years from now.
This is the game he has been playing his entire life, and it shouldn’t surprise any of us that his newest con — like most of his others — is working. From Trump University to the Trump Casino, his business successes rely solely on the appearance of riches and gluttonous consumerism.
“He’s going to say, ‘They stole it from me,’ and then he’s going to go to Florida and continue to be the most influential Republican in the country,” one Trump campaign advisor told POLITICO.
Without ever conceding that he lost this election, Trump will likely spontaneously tweet out several more all-caps claims that the election was stolen or rigged in some way. He will keep pulling this trick out up until the moment he walks out of the White House on Jan. 20, and it should not surprise any of us if former President Trump continues to do so for the rest of his life.
As Trump deceptively takes money from supporters and quietly moves into his own Super PAC, not only will he have a huge sway over the GOP in his post-presidency just by the fact of his popularity in the party, but he likely will also spend money in Congressional, Senatorial and Gubernatorial races all over the country.
Groveling wannabe Republican politicians will make the holy trek to Mar-a-Lago and beg for Trump’s endorsement in their primary campaigns. By the sheer volume of media attention Trump receives, his overwhelming popularity within the party and the millions he can afford to spend in the next midterm elections, we are going to see a full and complete Trump takeover of the GOP.
Yes, Trump criticized and berated disloyal Republicans on Twitter during his presidency; but now, he will have the luxury of being an “elder statesman” for the newest generation of Republican politicians. They will demonstrate their loyalty and lavish Trump with praise allowing him to maintain control while still outside of the actual arena.
Trump may be toying with a potential 2024 run, but his money and influence in Republican primaries going forward will metastasize without any barrier.
