OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:39 PM – Monday, October 14, 2024
Former President Donald Trump has begun surging in the betting odds, boasting a double-digit lead over Vice President Kamala Harris for the first time since their televised debate as the November election approaches.
The Real Clear Politics betting average on Sunday had Trump leading by 10 points in the largest lead either candidate has held since Harris emerged as the Democrat nominee amidst Biden dropping out.
Trump’s recent increase in the polls has left many Democrats panicking, which David Plouffe, the senior advisor to President Barack Obama and now Harris, attempted to extinguish during a Sunday podcast appearance. He even suggested that Harris’s prior polling “lead” over Trump was illegitimate and “not real.”
“I think the freakout is because there were a bunch of polls I’d say in the last month that showed a lead for Kamala Harris that was not real, it’s not what we were seeing. We’ve seen this thing basically be tied, let’s say, since… mid-September. So this is the race we have, it’s the race we expected, I don’t think it’s going to open up for either candidate,” Plouffe explained.
Although the Harris campaign has attempted to downplay Trump’s lead, Harris’s deficit has steadily grown since October 4th, on the way to a 10 point Trump lead, which Trump has described as “through the roof.”
Not only is Trump dominating in the betting markets, he is also currently leading in all but one of the battleground states.
The Real Clear Politics betting average also displays the averages from seven different platforms which track the betting odds, including Betfair, Bovada, Bwin, Points Bet, Polymarket and Smarkets. These other platforms similarly have Trump leading as well.
According to the Conversation, a non-profit news organization, the presidential candidate betting favorite has only lost twice since 1866. Most recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the betting favorite in 2016, only to be defeated by Trump.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has recently appeared to shift her campaign strategy, opting to go on a media tour, appearing on ABC’s The View, The Howard Stern Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Call Her Daddy podcast, and an episode of 60 minutes with Bill Whitaker.
The shift in strategy follows criticisms of Harris for her lack of transparency, waiting over a month after becoming the Democrat nominee to appear in an interview. Harris has also avoided engaging in a formal press conference, instead, she is attempting to reach voters by appearing on friendly culture podcasts and talk shows.
“Vice President Harris is seizing this opportunity to reach voters where they are,” stated a Harris campaign official, adding that Harris’s appearance on alternative media, listened to by younger audiences, “underscores the importance of connecting with younger audiences, especially those who will play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the election.”
Meanwhile, conservative critics maintain that Harris should have to answer hard-hitting questions in a press conference, where she would have to answer on the spot.
“She is highly unlikely to do a press conference because the media have enabled and encouraged her ‘plexiglass basement’ strategy, wherein she preserves the illusion of being out there while remaining wholly inaccessible to the press and therefore unaccountable,” stated Conservative Radio Libre host, Jorge Bonilla.
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