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Will Trump be as popular as Obama post White House? POTUS will still retain massive support even if he loses

However, win or lose, no one can deny the kind of impact that Trump has had over the nation in the last four years

In an age where popularity and staying relevant matter, President Donald Trump might come out a winner even if he ends up losing the presidential race. But the question remains - will he end up being more popular than his predecessor, former President Barack Obama in post-White House life.

Although the POTUS has repeatedly refused to accept the election results as they stood more than 36 hours after November 3 -- since it showed that his Democratic opponent Joe Biden had flipped many of the key swing states blue -- even going as far as falsely declaring himself the winner on election night, screaming "voter fraud" on Twitter and also threatening multiple lawsuits to stop the vote count in a number of states, chances are increasing that he might end up being a one-term president if the former's VP's lead holds in some of the states where ballots are still being tallied. 

However, win or lose, no one can deny the kind of impact that Trump has had over the nation in the last four years. The polarizing effect that he has left on the nation has many political experts and journalists explaining that one can either love or hate Trump as there was no middle path. As a result, the election cycle saw a record amount of voter turnout even amid a pandemic, which led him to beat Obama's popular vote record set 12 years ago to win more votes than any presidential candidate in US history, except for Biden. The president had picked up over 69,500,000 votes at the time of writing, according to the Associated Press, surpassing Obama's 69,498,516 votes in 2008. Biden, on the other hand, had received over 73,300,000 as of Thursday, November 5, night, also crushing that record.

So assuming that Trump does not get re-elected, it is highly unlikely that the man who has been infamously referred to as the "worst president" in the nation's history will fade away in silence following the loss. For one, the Twitter handle "@realDonaldTrump" is unlikely to stay mum, especially if he ends up on the losing team. For four years following his historic win against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump bragged about it in rallies, missed no opportunity to do so on social media. So, just like Obama, whose popularity was partly credited to the fact that he utilized the digitized age and turned social media into a political mouthpiece, enabling him to connect with young voters across the nation, Trump built on that tactic, but with his own unapologetic flair which often relied on openly attacking anyone who dared oppose him. 

The fact that Obama remained one of the most popular presidents alive even after his 8-year term at the White House ended, has always been somewhat of a bitter pill for Trump. A part of one of his tweets from March read: "So they say, OK, let's look at everything else, and all of the deals that 'Trump' has done over his lifetime. But it doesn’t work that way. I have a better idea. Look at the Obama Book Deal or the ridiculous Netflix deal" - undoubtedly alluding to the former first couple signing deals with Netflix and a book publisher and engaging in numerous philanthropic projects since moving out of office. 

In 2018, the Obamas founded Higher Ground Productions and signed a production deal with Netflix for a "high eight-figure deal", according to CNN. The first project in the collaboration—a documentary called 'American Factory'—debuted on the streaming platform on August 23. The Obamas also signed a two-book deal with Penguin Random House which went on to be a very successful one and was reportedly worth more than $65 million. In 2017, Barack's memoir 'Dreams From My Father' made a reported $6.8 million in total. Michelle's memoir 'Becoming' sold around 10 million copies across the globe.

So it will not be surprising if post-White House, Trump tries to focus all his energies on staying relevant and beating the Obamas in the popularity race. And it shouldn't be difficult as he already is familiar with how the entertainment and TV industry works. Some reports are already claiming Trump is considering bringing back his hit show 'The Apprentice' and make the most of his newfound popularity.

There were also talks about his rumored plan to set up a rival to Fox News. While there are few details about any such plans, Trump has previously stated that he is considering venturing into media. Last month, it was claimed that his son-in-law Jared Kushner was thinking of launching a Trump-themed news outlet. In 2018, Trump spoke about creating a “Worldwide Network to show the World the way we really are” to counter CNN’s “unfair” coverage. 

And if nothing else works out, the president will always have golf. Prior to the 2016 election, Trump quipped that he would disappear to Scotland and play golf if he lost the election. "I'm not sure you're ever going to see me here," he said at the time. "I don't think I'm going to lose, but if I do, I don't think you're ever going to see me again, folks. I think I'll go to Turnberry and play golf or something."