Donald Trump raised eyebrows this week when he gave a mischievous smile in response to a proposed scenario in which he wins the presidency and subsequently quits before taking office.
"I’ll let you know how I feel about it after it happens,"
he told The New York Times, apparently referring to winning the general election.
"It is, of course, entirely possible that Mr. Trump is playing coy to earn more news coverage," The Times wrote. "But the notion of the intensely competitive Mr. Trump’s being more interested in winning the presidency than serving as president is not exactly a foreign concept to close observers of this presidential race."
While acknowledging that such a scenario is unlikely, the article went on to describe what it would mean for the presidency.
The scenario would play out differently depending on the timing of his departure.
Harvard historian Alexander Keyssar said that if Trump quit after winning on Nov. 8 but before the Dec. 19 Electoral College vote, the electors would have the power to vote for another candidate.
Many political insiders reject the idea that Trump would ever quit after winning.
"If he got elected president, he’d certainly serve. I’m fairly certain about that," political adviser Roger Stone told the Times. "You think he’d resign? I don’t see that happening. There is only one star in the Donald Trump show, and that’s Donald Trump."
Political observers have previously speculated that Trump doesn't really want the job of president.
In April, freelance writer and podcaster Richard Zombeck
wrote in The Huffington Post that Trump was planning an exit strategy.
"Donald Trump does not want to be president. In fact, he never wanted to be president. His entire campaign has been a long con and a ruse to strengthen his brand and feed his ego," Zombeck wrote.
On Thursday,
he reiterated the theory, saying "Trump is about winning and once he wins, he’s done."
The theory sparked much discussion on Twitter.
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