Statistician Nate Silver, who founded the poll-aggregating site FiveThirtyEight, has revealed who he will cast his ballot for in the November presidential election.
During Thursday’s episode of Risky Business, the podcast he co-hosts, Silver said he would be voting for Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris.
"I'm gonna vote for Harris," Silver said, after telling his audience he is trying to remain nonpartisan.
According to Newsweek, former President Donald Trump called Silver a “very respected guy” at a news conference on Friday after Silver gave the GOP presidential nominee a 56% chance of winning the race.
Silver also talked about Trump and Harris’ win probabilities and how they have changed since their debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
"Before the debate, it had been like Trump 54, Harris 46. These are not vote shares. These are win probabilities,” he said. “And after, it's 50-50.”
"She, right now, is at 49% of the vote in polls," Silver said on the podcast. "To win, she has to get to 51% — 51 because she has a disadvantage in all likelihood in the Electoral College."
On Thursday the pollster also updated his election model, which previously had Trump surging in the polls, but now has the former president in a dead heat with Harris.
In an early morning post on X on Wednesday, Silver outlined four “mistakes” he says the Trump campaign has made so far.
Selecting Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate is the first error Trump made, according to Silver, followed by a “meandering convention speech,” which he says blew the “moment of goodwill.”
The Trump camp was also “not prepared” for the swap of President Joe Biden for Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democrat ticket and “clearly not prepped well” for Tuesday night’s debate. Silver also suggested that Trump is “incapable of sustained A-game.”
In the FAQ section of his website, Silver has described himself as generally supportive of Democrat candidates and, according to Newsweek, he mentioned in 2008 that he voted for former President Barack Obama.
Following his announcement that he plans to vote for Harris, Silver admitted that an uptick in the polls for the vice president could mean more business for himself.
"If I'm being superduper honest, I mean, most of the audience for kind of highbrow news content are Democratic-leaning voters,” Silver said on Risky Business. “The audience of the newsletter is very college educated. When Harris is doing well in the polls, we probably convert a little better [to paid subscriptions]."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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