When Donald Trump announced that he was going to run for President of the United States of America many people scoffed at him for setting his cap at the most powerful job in the world. Gifs were made, lolz were had. The joke is now on them.
Yesterday Donald Trump won enough delegates to get the Republican nomination for President, meaning that he and either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, depending on wins the Democrat nomination, will go head to head for the hot seat in the White House.
Trump has defeated 16 other Republican would-be candidates and, according to Associated Press, has 1,238 delegates which is actually one more than he would need to secure his party’s backing.
However, until the Republicans finalise their nomination at a convention in July nothing is set in stone. Indeed, his party are divided and there are many who don’t want him to represent them in the contest for the presidency.
They said it wouldn’t happen but now that Donald Trump has got so far that he’s basically the Republican nominee in all but name…
How likely is it that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States?
The short answer is very likely. The long answer is it’s possible but there are a few things that could get in his way.
There are still a few variables at play here but, in theory, if the Republican party back Trump with a majority and people vote for him over the Democrat candidate then it’s completely possible that he would win the presidency. The most recent polls have shown that Hillary Clinton’s lead over Trump is shrinking. Now, you can’t always trust polls, as we learned when Labour didn’t win the General Election last year despite what the polls were, allegedly, suggesting but they are a suggestion as to what people are thinking.
So, what could stop Donald Trump becoming America’s next President?...
Could the Republican Party could stop Donald Trump becoming President?
Up until yesterday when Trump emerged with more than enough delegates to become the nominee, in theory, another candidate could have taken him on and the convention in July would have been contested.
That was then, this is now. It is possible that rebels who don’t want Trump to lead the Republican party could conspire to rewrite the party’s rules but nobody really knows how likely this is. So, with the exception of a dramatic and large scale revolt or boycott within the Republican party at their July get together there will be no contest. The property mogul, billionaire and reality TV star will, officially, become their candidate.
There are now no obstacles between Trump and the nomination.
Could Hillary Clinton could stop Donald Trump becoming President?
Hillary is currently the Democrat frontrunner for the nomination at the moment. She’s got the support of 2,305 delegates but she would need 2,383 to secure her position.
There is also a suggestion that Republicans who aren’t a fan of this billionaire’s bombastic rhetoric could vote for Clintonif she became the democrat nominee in order to keep him out or that they might not vote at all in protest.
Could Bernie Sanders could stop Donald Trump becoming President?
Earlier this week the Vermont senator accepted an invitation from Trump to go head to head with him in a TV debate in California before the state’s primary on June 7th. Sanders boldly said ‘game on’ as he took on the blonde bombshell’s challenge.
Sanders is currently trailing behind Clinton with the support of only 1,539 delegates compared with Hillary’s 2,305. It’s still not clear whether the Democrat’s candidate will be Bernie or Hillary and this may well have to be decided are their convention in Philadelphia.
So, will Donald Trump be the next American President?
They said he was a novelty candidate, that it was just entertainment. They thought his comments about building a wall between America and Mexico would put a pin in his political aspirations, they thought his views on abortion would turn people off him and they said he wouldn’t make it past the traditional turning point Super Tuesday; they were wrong.
Unfortunately, this is now a very real possibility. So far Trump has been sneered at, lambasted (often rightly) and underestimated but what yesterday’s victory shows is that people are backing him. The polls show that his approval rating is rising.
Barack Obama won in 2009 with a landslide victory and now experts are suggesting that there is a very real possibility that Trump, despite all the xenophobic and sexist things he’s said in recent months, could do the same. Why? Because he’s likely to get first-time voters out and win the votes of people who are turned off by more traditional politicians.
On the possibility of Trump winning Obama has said that world leaders have ‘good reason to be rattled’by the former Apprentice star.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.