Trump Campaign Tarnishing Trump Name And Harming His Business Interests

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The current campaign between two of the most disliked people in America is taking its toll on the reputations of the candidates, but it appears to be hurting Donald Trump more. Not only have his chances of winning the election become astronomically low with under two weeks ago, the campaign appears to be hurting Donald Trump’s business empire. For example, AP reports Trump brand loses luster with affluent:

Event planner Beth Bernstein decided she had had enough with Donald Trump after his 2005 hot-mic boasts about groping women came to light earlier this month. She removed photos of weddings she had thrown at a Trump hotel in Chicago from her website, wrote to hotel staff to remove her from the list of “preferred vendors” and posted a sort of call to arms on her blog.

“I simply cannot bring myself to walk in the door there any longer,” wrote the owner of SQN Events.

Bernstein is not alone. Rates for rooms at Trump’s new D.C. hotel are being slashed as travelers weigh their options, and smartphone data suggest fewer people are visiting his properties compared to rival venues nearby.

The Republican nominee for president is in danger of losing not just the election, but something dear to a man who claims the marketing value of his name alone is worth $3 billion: the many customers, mostly wealthy, who have stayed at his hotels, played a round at his golf courses or held galas at his oceanside resorts.

Experts say the Trump brand is tarnished and at a tricky crossroads as his appeal shifts from the well-heeled, high-income people he has long courted to a more middle-class base, including the fervent fans he cultivated during the campaign.

The tarnishing of his name is very likely the reason that his newest hotel brand will be called Scion rather than use the Trump name, and raises further questions as to the value of the Trump name.

The New York Times reports on tenants who want to drop the Trump name from their buildings.

Many women are saying they will not buy clothes from the Ivanka Trump brand, although there appears to be a discrepancy between what women are saying and what they are buying.

Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has even been vandalized.

Racism, xenophobia, and bragging about assaulting women is just not good for public relations. If Trump were a smarter businessman (or a less terrible human being), he might have realized this.

On the other hand, it is too early to tell whether this will be a long term trend, or if views of Trump will soften when we are faced with the probable reality of a Clinton presidency. There has been speculation that Trump has been using his presidential campaign to develop an audience for a new right-wing network to the right of Fox, even if Trump denies having interest in this. If this does come about, this may or may not change Trump’s position. There is no doubt that there will be many opposing Clinton, on both the right and left.