--- title: Watch Rachel Maddow Discuss Donald Trump's 'Genius' Campaign description: “He will never have more power than he has right now” canonical: https://time.com/4006204/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-21T14:11:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:46.566Z og:title: Watch Rachel Maddow Explain Donald Trump's 'Genius' Campaign on 'Tonight Show' og:description: “He will never have more power than he has right now” og:url: https://time.com/4006204/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e04fa21bf490dbf/69886056f887dc6d0ce91fc7/rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Rachel Maddow with host Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Aug. 20, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Rachel Maddow Explain Donald Trump's 'Genius' Campaign on 'Tonight Show' twitter:description: “He will never have more power than he has right now” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e04fa21bf490dbf/69886056f887dc6d0ce91fc7/rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Rachel Maddow Explain Donald Trump's 'Genius' Campaign on _Tonight Show_ ## Video: Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2015-07-23. Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes_ by [Ian Goldstein / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Ian Goldstein / Entertainment Weekly Aug 21, 2015 2:11 PM UTC  Rachel Maddow with host Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Aug. 20, 2015. Rachel Maddow with host Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Aug. 20, 2015.Douglas Gorenstein—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images by [Ian Goldstein / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Ian Goldstein / Entertainment Weekly Aug 21, 2015 2:11 PM UTC Rachel Maddow isn’t certain that Donald Trump wants to be president. “Look what happens to people who become president. Barack Obama is 40 years older than when he got sworn in seven years ago,” Maddow told Jimmy Fallon on _The Tonight Show_ Thursday night. But the host of the _The Rachel Maddow Show_ expressed to Fallon that Trump’s presidential run has granted him an enormous amount of power; Trump is pushing an extremely right-wing campaign, making his run as an independent a guaranteed win for the Democrats. “He will never have more power than he has right now,” Maddow told Fallon. She emphasized that Trump’s position is genius; regardless of how he runs, Trump will have either party in political debt to him. “Half of the country’s political infrastructure is going to owe him for the rest of their lives. That is the art of the deal,” Maddow said, slyly alluding to Trump’s 1987 [memoir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump:%5FThe%5FArt%5Fof%5Fthe%5FDeal). _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/21/rachel-maddow-donald-trump-campaign-tonight-show) _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com) ### Photographing the Presidential Campaign With an iPhone 6  Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush runs to catch up after shaking hands in the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Hillary Clinton greets the crowd at a campaign event on the campus of Dartmouth University in Hanover, N.H., July 3, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina sits by a float before the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie departs a campaign event at Goodwin's Eatery &Sports Bar in Barnstead, N.H., July 3, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry takes a photo of fellow candidate Lindsay Graham while at the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  While waiting for Hillary Clinton to appear at a New Hampshire campaign event, a woman shields herself from the sun while eating a piece of pie, July 3, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush throws a baseball at the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  A supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley holds a sign before the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Hillary Clinton appears at a grassroots organizing campaign event on the campus of Dartmouth University in Hanover, N.H., July 3, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Huma Abedin, long-time aide to Hillary Clinton, is approached by a member of the crowd after a campaign event in Hanover, N.H., July 3, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on a float in the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  A supporter of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has a logo painted on her face before a parade in the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Members of the crowd watch as Hillary Clinton appears at a campaign event on the campus of Dartmouth University in Hanover, N.H., July 3, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  A supporter of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders on a parade bus in the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush walks in front of a group of Hillary Clinton's supporters at the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Signs for presidential candidates line a fence before the Amherst, N.H. Independence Day parade, July 4, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis _Read next:_ [_Watch Donald Trump’s Interview With_ ](http://time.com/4005338/donald-trump-interview-videos/?iid=time%5Freadnext)[TIME](http://time.com/4005338/donald-trump-interview-videos/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day_](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4006204/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4006204/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon/"},"headline":"Watch Rachel Maddow Explain Donald Trump's 'Genius' Campaign on Tonight Show","datePublished":"2015-08-21T14:11:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:43:46.566Z","description":"“He will never have more power than he has right now”","url":"https://time.com/4006204/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","jimmy fallon","celebrity","Donald Trump","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e04fa21bf490dbf/69886056f887dc6d0ce91fc7/rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ian Goldstein / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e04fa21bf490dbf/69886056f887dc6d0ce91fc7/rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rachel Maddow with host Jimmy Fallon on \"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\" on Aug. 20, 2015.","caption":"Rachel Maddow with host Jimmy Fallon on \"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\" on Aug. 20, 2015.","creditText":"Douglas Gorenstein—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4006204/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon/","name":"Watch Rachel Maddow Explain Donald Trump's 'Genius' Campaign on Tonight Show"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump","description":"Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7MzTpVq2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-23T21:38:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4006204/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4006204/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-jimmy-fallon/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```