After an impeachment strike and a drone strike, the Teflon Don strikes again.
Only this time, it’s at legal election betting sites.
It seems that no scandal is too serious – that no intrigue is too intriguing – to force The Donald off his perch atop the 2020 Presidential election odds boards.
On September 24, 2019, amid poor polling numbers and lukewarm receptions for a historically weak field of Democratic Presidential hopefuls, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi – against her seeming better judgment – initiated an impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
The grounds for impeachment were as divisive as the Trump administration itself. About half the country sees high crimes and misdemeanors, while the other half sees business as usual.
Notably, election bettors were unmoved, and they’ve kept Trump trending as the favorite to win the 2020 general election.
After all, political theater is like any other theater, and offshore sportsbooks have long offered entertainment odds on other reality TV shows. So it’s little surprise that viewers don’t think the biggest star is going to get voted off the island.
Case in point: With impeachment on hold, Trump’s approval rating continues to hover higher than former President Barack Obama’s at the same juncture in his Presidency (which doesn’t matter this time around, apparently), while Trump also tied Obama as the Most Admired Man in America.
Now, another “scandal” has erupted, with the Trump administration ordering a successful drone strike on a revered Iranian poet with a dapper beard terrorist.
Pelosi, who is sitting on a curiously stalled impeachment (that’s right: Trump still hasn’t technically been impeached and won’t be until the Speaker sends the articles off to the Senate per Constitutional law, which is why some books offering impeachment odds haven’t paid out yet), is now introducing a resolution to effectively paint Trump as a war criminal and open the administration up to UN inquiries and a case before the International Criminal Court at the Hague.
Yet Trump, on the betting boards, remains untouchable.
At this moment, even with impeachment and allegations of wrongdoing pushed by every corner of the connected world, the most thick-skinned politician on earth is still carrying the best odds to win in 2020.
2020 Presidential Election Odds
2020 US Presidential Election Winner
- Donald Trump -120
- Joe Biden +400
- Bernie Sanders +700
- Elizabeth Warren +1300
- Pete Buttigieg +1400
- Michael Bloomberg +1800
- Andrew Yang +2500
- Hillary Clinton +3500
- Amy Klobuchar +6000
- Mike Pence +7500
- Nikki Haley +10000
- Tulsi Gabbard +10000
- Michelle Obama +12500
- Mitt Romney +15000
- Cory Booker +25000
- Deval Patrick +25000
- Howard Schultz +25000
- John Kasich +25000
- Mark Cuban +25000
- Tammy Duckworth +25000
- Tom Steyer +25000
- Trey Gowdy +25000
- William (Bill) Weld +25000
- Jeb Bush +30000
- Marco Rubio +30000
- Marianne Williamson +30000
- Ted Cruz +30000
- Tim Kaine +30000
- Kanye West +100000
2020 Presidential Election – Winning Party
- Democratic Party -105
- Republican Party -125
Interestingly, the more Trump is accused of malfeasance, the stronger his betting odds seem to get.
Indeed, if such odds are a valid indicator of popularity at the polls, Trump’s election odds – as well as the election odds for the Republican party – are actually stronger now than before the impeachment inquiry and the drone strike heard round the world.
Back in October, Bovada had Trump at +125 to win re-election. Given his -120 odds today, 45 has actually gained 45 points on the back of the press he’s garnered during these latest alleged outrages.
One more, and Trump is probably going to get -300 odds to win.
But the real news in all this?
Donald Trump, Jr. is now polling as a leading Presidential candidate for 2024.
