Political pundits insist on making predictions every year, only to be proven wrong with the passage of time — and Fox News conservatives made some of 2018’s worst.
Four failed Fox News predictions cracked Politico Magazine’s Top 20 list for this year, more than any other outlet — including two busts among the three worst forecasts.
Sean Hannity was forced to walk back a Jan. 25 prediction within minutes, after the broadcaster claimed the New York Times would be proven wrong for reporting President Trump had tried to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. “How many times [have] the New York Times and others gotten it wrong?” Hannity told viewers. However, Fox News independently confirmed the newspaper’s report, and Hannity was forced to eat crow coming out of a commercial break. Politico ranked the insta-blunder at No. 12.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich insisted Republicans would keep — and expand — their congressional majorities in an infamous Dec. 28, 2017, column posted on the Fox News website. “The great political surprise of 2018 will be the size of the Republican victory,” Gingrich wrote. However, 11 months later the GOP lost 40 seats and their House majority, while gaining just two Senate seats. Politico rated the prediction the year’s seventh-worst.
The social media personalities Diamond & Silk predicted on Dec. 31, 2017, that Trump’s approval ratings among black Americans would rise in the coming year that’s just now wrapping up. However, there’s no evidence they’re hopping on the Trump train, which is stalling out with an 10 percent approval rating last month among black Americans, according to Gallup. Civiqs found his black approval was just 6 percent earlier this month. Politico ranked their prediction the third-worst of the year.
Laura Ingraham assured viewers on Jan. 2 that the Republican tax cuts would boost the economy in the then-new year. “It’s only two days in, and it truly already feels like a happy New Year,” she said. “Our economic news is only going to get brighter in 2018.” However, a December stock market crash washed away all of the year’s economic gains, and Trump’s trade wars have lowered expectations for growth next year. That failed prediction landed Ingraham at No. 2.
For the record, Politico ranked a prediction about Amazon’s second headquarters by Aiera, Wells Fargo’s artificial intelligence platform, at No. 1 for the year.
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