Donald Trump Just Admitted WHAT?

On Barbara Walters' annual 10 Most Fascinating People special, Donald Trump admitted that he will be "a loser" if he doesn't win the GOP nomination. Trump, of course, is famous for calling his enemies "losers," and so Walters asked him if, by that logic, Trump himself would qualify as a loser if he failed to secure the Republican presidential nomination. Shockingly, Trump admitted that, well, yes, he would.

"In a certain way, yeah," Trump said. "If I lost the nomination, yeah, I guess I'd call myself a loser. I've never said that about myself before."

Walters deserves a lot of credit for getting Trump to say this, because it's a pretty big concession for the Donald to make. Trump's public persona is based almost entirely on the premise that he's the big winner in a world full of losers, and that's more or less been the sole rationale for his presidential campaign as well. This is why he's always complaining that "America doesn't win anymore" at debates and campaign rallies; it's also why he takes such joy in insulting Republican candidates for having worse poll numbers than him. They're losers, obviously; elect Trump, the pitch goes, and you'll elect a winner.

To hear Trump say the words "I am a loser" would be nothing less than astonishing, and would most certainly be the most surprising development in the 2016 campaign so far. That said, I'm not waiting on baited breath for that to happen. For one, it's not clear that Trump will lose the nomination. His lead in the polls, despite many predictions to the contrary, have proved to be completely bulletproof, and until they fall — or until he loses a primary — he should still be considered the favorite to win the nomination.

Secondly, though, if Trump does lose the primary, there's a still a way that he could avoid slapping himself with the "loser" label: He could claim, as he did after President Obama's reelection, that the race was rigged.

Of course, this would make him even more hated by the Republican Party than he already is, and it certainly wouldn't endear him to whoever defeated him for the nomination. Still, I'd be willing to bet that for Trump, charming the GOP elites and getting on the good graces of the Republican presidential nominee is a much lower priority than being able to keep claiming that he's the best winner in the history of winners.