At various points in 2016, the press predicted that it was either Trump’s “last chance” to save himself, or it was his opponents’ “last chance” to stop him. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
By EDDIE SCARRY
President-elect Trump’s Electoral College victory this week was the final step in a campaign that defied predictions from the news media, which saw several near-collapses for the candidate during his primary and general election campaigns.
At various points in 2016, the press predicted that it was either Trump’s “last chance” to save himself, or it was his opponents’ “last chance” to stop him. But each time, he overcame those pitfalls and prompted reports of yet another “last chance” for the unconventional candidate.
On March 14, one day before Super Tuesday, MSNBC said it was the “last chance to stop” Trump. “With just one day left before multiple major primaries, time is running out for the GOP to find support for a candidate not named Donald Trump,” it said.
Trump went on to win four states the next day: Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. He only failed to win Ohio, which went for its governor, John Kasich.
But that victory wasn’t really the last chance to stop Trump. On April 30, just days before the Indiana primary and with only Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kasich still in the race opposing Trump, Business Insider said the state’s competition was “the last chance to stop Donald Trump.”
Time magazine ran a headline asking on May 3, the day of the primary, “The Last Chance to Stop Donald Trump?”
Trump won Indiana, even after Cruz received what was expected to be a helpful endorsement from the state’s governor Mike Pence. Trump went on to pick Pence as his vice presidential nominee.
On July 18, heading into the Republican National Convention and well after Trump had vanquished each of his GOP rivals, the press turned to Republican delegates as the final way to stop Trump. The liberal Mother Jones website said, “Never Trump Delegates Have One Last Chance to Stand Up to Trump.”
The story focused on some GOP delegates who hoped to stall the nomination process by contesting their state’s rules on how delegates were required to vote. Three days later, Trump accepted the nomination.
But there were still other chances to take out Trump.
On the evening of Oct. 8, a Friday, the Washington Post broke news of the tape that showed Trump making lewd remarks about how he makes sexual advances toward women. The controversy engulfed his campaign just as he was to debate Democrat Hillary Clinton for the second time.
“Donald Trump faces last chance to right sinking campaign at debate,” said a report by Bloomberg News the day before the debate.
“Whatever chance Donald Trump still had of capturing the White House largely evaporated Sunday night in his second debate with Hillary Clinton,” said CNN’s David Gergen after the debate.
Nearly two weeks later, Trump and Clinton were to meet for the third and final debate, and it was once again a final chance to stop Trump.
“Is The Last Debate Trump’s Last Chance?” asked a story published at the Huffington Post. The story said that the moment “could be his last hurrah.”
Eric Zorn, columnist for the Chicago Tribune, said afterward, “Donald Trump just lost his last chance to turn this election around.”
Less than three weeks later, Trump won a stunning victory on Election Night, prompting Clinton to concede on Nov. 9. But even then, it wasn’t quite over.
Before electors could officially cast their votes on Dec. 19, the Daily Beast ran the headline, “The Last Chance to Stop Trump?” The analysis, by contributor Larry Lessig, entertained the possibility that the electors could defect and refuse to support Trump.
That didn’t happen either.
Trump ended with 304 electoral votes, and will be sworn in on Jan. 20.
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