On Oct. 7, the Washington Post published the Access Hollywood video. Some Republicans, who had up to that point stayed at least nominally in Trump’s camp, ran away. There were calls for him to drop out. On Oct. 8, Trump tweeted: “The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly — I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!”
Indeed, Trump didn’t drop out. And now it is Election Day, with Trump still on the ballot.
Those around Trump say they never saw any truth in the Trump-is-thinking-about-quitting speculation. “Even in the bumpiest of days, I’ve never gotten any sense of that,” communications director Jason Miller said on election eve. “He wants to win this thing, he realizes that he’s the leader of this movement … and as this campaign has gone along, the more determined his resolve has been to win for the people who have worked so hard for it.”
So there was wishful thinking about Trump dropping out when he was leading the primary polls, and there was wishful thinking about him dropping out when he was far behind in the general election polls.
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