Trump Believes That Television Ratings Are All That Matter In A Presidential Election

Perhaps providing further proof that he intends to withdraw from the race for the White House sooner rather than later, Republican Presidential candidate and moldy jack-o-lantern Donald Trump revealed to the New York Times that there would be a collapse in television ratings if he were to drop out. The interview, which was conducted late last month and prior to Trump’s comments to Meet the Press’s Chuck Todd about dropping out if his poll numbers fell, also showed that Trump only views the 2016 election for our next President of the United States through the prism of celebrity attention and entertainment.

From the NYT article detailing the interview:

In a recent interview, Mr. Trump offered a vainglorious pre-obituary of sorts for his candidacy, should he ever end it (for which he insists he has no plans).

“There’d be a major collapse of the race, and there’d be a major collapse of television ratings,” he said from his office in Trump Tower. “It would become a depression in television.”

Mr. Trump said that a presidential campaign without him would become so “boring” that he would struggle to pay any attention to it.

“I wouldn’t even be watching it probably, and neither would anybody else,” he said.

He also told the Times that the cable news networks would lose “so much money” if he were to get out of the race, obviously referring to the huge ratings CNN and Fox received from first two GOP debates, which both received wide-scale attention from non-political viewers who wanted to see the spectacle of the reality TV star as Presidential candidate.

It is apparent that the Trumpster is laying the groundwork for his inevitable exit from this race. His brand is that of the ultimate winner and he can’t afford to go out as a ‘loser,’ which would be the risk he takes if he actually participates in primaries and caucuses. While his name is still at the top of most GOP state and national polls, his numbers are heading south and one recent national poll shows him trailing retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson by seven points.

At the same time, he is also making sure to put the media on alert that even if he does leave the race, they need to cover him incessantly to keep their ratings and click-rates high. Basically, it seems like he wants to claim that he’ll still be heavily involved in the race, even if he is no longer personally running. Therefore, everyone needs to track his moves and statements as the ultimate Republican ‘kingmaker,’ as he’ll use his vast influence with GOP voters to decide the next POTUS.

Perhaps he has other ideas. Maybe he will actually go quietly away back to his business. But, make no mistake, he will drop out of the race well before the first primary vote is cast. That much is a given.