An American political historian known as the “Nostradamus” of elections was seemingly at a loss for words early Wednesday when he realized his prediction — that Kamala Harris would win the presidential election — was wrong.
Allen Lichtman, who has correctly predicted the outcome of nine of the 10 elections since 1984, was captured on a livestream repeatedly saying “I don’t get it” as Donald Trump’s landslide victory started to become evident.
The 77-year-old professor and his son, Sam, shared their stunned reactions in real time as the results rolled in toward the end of their nearly six-hour coverage of the election.
“This is the first moment of the night where I’ve lost hope a little bit,” Sam Lichtman said as media outlets called Pennsylvania for Trump.
The elder Lichtman rubbed his eyes, visibly frustrated by the data, and said: “Good thing I have nothing to do tomorrow. And I’m not doing any interviews.”
Lichtman, an American University professor widely known as the “Nostradamus” of US presidential elections, put his money on the VP this year despite polling data hinting another Trump presidency was in the cards.
The prof is the co-creator of the “Keys to the White House” metric, which entails 13 categories assessing the prospects of the two major-party candidates. This year, according to Lichtman, Harris had the edge in eight of those metrics, compared to Trump’s three.
As the livestream neared its end, with both Lichtmans growing noticeably frustrated by the numbers showing Trump ahead in all seven swing states, Allan Lichtman said there was “nothing positive” for Harris in the data.
“Oh, the democracy’s gone,” a defeated-sounding Lichtman said. “Once democracy’s gone, it’s almost impossible to recover. The way to recover is by the dictators losing wars.”
Sam Lichtman was less apocalyptic, saying he hopes Trump serves his term and “we never have to deal with him again.”
“I’ve said it a hundred times,” his dad replied. “Democracy is precious, but like all precious things, it can be destroyed. And typically destroyed from within. And throughout the 21st century, democracy has been in decline everywhere around the world, and America has now fallen in step. But never give up hope.”
“It’s unfathomable,” Lichtman concluded the stream.