Many politicians, pundits and journalists made wrong predictions about Donald Trump’s prospects for winning the GOP presidential nomination.
What were some of those predictions? Senator Rand Paul said, “There is no way voters in the country will nominate Trump.”
James Fallows, writing for The Atlantic, said, “The chance of his winning the nomination and election is exactly zero.”
Nate Silver, the prediction expert and editor of Five Thirty Eight, said last August that Trump’s odds of winning were two percent. On the night of the first Republican debate, Silver said that Trump is “almost certainly doomed, sooner or later.”
Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post said last July: “Donald Trump is not going to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2016.”
Irving Kristol of The Weekly Standard asserted that “We are past peak Trump” and that he should plan to leave the race before the first caucus vote in Iowa.
Ben White of the business channel CNBC pledged to “eat a bag of rusty nails” if Trump won the nomination.
David Brooks of The New York Times said last January, “I’m telling you: It’s going to be Rubio.”
If the journalists and political pundits are realistic, they will now view Trump as a serious candidate with the possibility of winning the 2016 presidential election.