Featured Image Credit: 20th Television / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Topics: The Simpsons, Politics, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: The Simpsons, Politics, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris
In what is coming as quite a big shock to some, The Simpsons didn’t accurately predict the 2024 US election.
The show's uncanny knack for seemingly predicting the future has become a 'Nostradamus' for some fans as countless gags from various eras have seemingly come to life, according to the internet at least.
Despite a writer on The Simpsons explaining why it keeps happening, viewers have been looking to the long-running sitcom for a peek into the future - and the 2024 US presidential election is no exception.
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The Simpsons episode, 'Bart to the Future' showed an older Lisa Simpson in a purple suit wearing her classic pearl necklace - similar to Kamala Harris - as she deals with the difficulties with being America’s first ‘straight female president’.
So you can imagine people's surprise when the news comes in that Donald Trump has come back to the White House for a second term as president.
In one viral post on Twitter, a user wrote: “This is the first time The Simpsons were wrong.”
Another said: “Can’t believe the simpsons failed,” while a third wrote: “We’ve switched timelines for real this time.”
However, some of the more prudent Simpsons fans, (myself included) pointed out the clear inconsistencies with this ‘prediction’ in the first place.
One person wrote: “You got it wrong The prediction is for Kamala to rule after Trump.. Kamala took over from Trump not from Biden."
Indeed, Lisa does reference inheriting a 'budget crisis' from President Trump.
Meanwhile, a second added: “The episode, titled 'Bart to the Future' is set in the year 2030 so the timeline hasn’t happened yet...”
But it isn't just The Simpsons who supposedly missed the mark with their predictions.
Historian Allan Lichtman also guessed wrong after he'd predicted that Harris would sweep the election.
Lichtman is known for his fairly accurate prediction method, which has successfully predicted elections from 1984 to 2020.
However, while live on YouTube, it dawned on him in real time that Harris wasn't going to win.
His son Sam said: "I think she lost. I hate to say that because I’ve been hopeful all night but I think she lost."
To which his father replied: “Me too. I think it’s 90 percent over. Something ridiculous would have to happen.”
Following this, Lichtman told his followers that there wouldn't be a follow-up livestream tomorrow (November 7).
He claimed the show was ‘canceled’, revealing he had planned instead to ‘sleep all day’.