ABC News is scheduled to host Donald Trump on this Sunday's edition of This Week to discuss whether he plans “to run for president.” If ABC wants to waste airtime on Trump, will the network challenge the reality show star about his baseless conspiracy theories, and habit of using the false promise of running for president as a vehicle for self-promotion?

ABC promoted Trump's appearance with a tweet asking, “Is @realDonaldTrump planning to run for president in 2016? We ask him Sunday on #ThisWeek.” But as ABC has itself reported, Trump has previously floated the prospect of a presidential run in order to promote himself and his related business ventures.

Trump insists he's serious, but experts in branding and politics are dubious, saying the art of this deal for The Donald is simple: gaining favorable exposure.

It's not that he needs fame. Trump already is one of the most well-known people on the planet. Rather, they said, flirting with an idea of a presidential campaign helps to burnish the Trump name, the foundation of his business.

Trump is unlikely to be an actual candidate in this election or any other, and never has been- why would ABC News allow itself to be used for yet another round of promotional appearances for a charlatan?

During the 2012 election cycle, the media elevated Trump and his supposed political aspirations with some seriousness, and he used that platform to promote several unsavory and ridiculous notions:

• Trump repeatedly pushed the conspiracy theory that President Obama's birth certificate was false, and claimed that he had sent investigators to Hawaii to disprove the document. Even after Obama released his long-form birth certificate, Trump refused to accept it as legitimate.
• After the election, Trump called for a “revolution” and claimed that Obama “lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election.”
• Trump claimed, without evidence, that President Obama was a “terrible student” and questioned if he had been admitted to Ivy League schools like Columbia and Harvard on his own merits.
• Trump accused President Obama of being a “foreign candidate getting foreign donations.”
• Trump attacked Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington as “unattractive inside and out,” and said “I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man - he made a good decision.”
• Trump promoted the baseless and disproven claim that the Obama administration had dishonestly manipulated the unemployment rate.
• Trump also claimed that surveys showing an increase in consumer confidence were fraudulent; insisting that “they're not real numbers.”
• Trump engaged in a publicity stunt where he offered $5 million to charity in exchange for President Obama's college and passport records.
• After the election, Trump called for a “revolution” and claimed that Obama “lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election.”

After Trump threw a fit when President Obama was reelected, NBC News anchor Brian Williams characterized Trump as having “driven well past the last exit to relevance.” So why is ABC News giving him another chance?