Donald Trump is, if current polls are any indication, very likely to lose in November — an outcome that would be absolutely disastrous for his brand, a brand built on winning.
Last Week Tonight host John Oliver has a solution for Trump: "drop out." In a monologue directed to Trump on Sunday, Oliver said this is the one thing Trump could do to save his reputation and brand.
"Simply drop out and tell America this entire candidacy was a stunt — a satire designed to expose the flaws in the system," Oliver said. "And the thing is you could actually make a fairly decent case for that."
According to Oliver, Trump has done a good job exposing flaws at every level of the system: The media has given him billions of dollars in free airtime for his outrageous remarks, Republican politicians stuck with him even as he insulted the family of a fallen veteran, and much of the public supported him as he insulted minorities and proposed a ban on Muslims entering the country. By simply claiming he did all of that for satire, Trump could make an even bigger name for himself, Oliver argued.
"Just think about how triumphant it would feel to say on national television," Oliver added, quoting a fictitious Trump, "‘I openly ran on a platform of impossibly ignorant proposals steeped in racial bigotry and nobody stopped me. In fact, you embraced me for it. What the fuck was that about?’
"That would be one of the most powerful political speeches of all time. If you drop out in order to teach America a lesson, you would not be a loser. You would be a legend. There’d be a federal holiday in your honor."
