Baseball sabermetrician-turned-polling savant Nate Silver was on Wednesday's live post-debate Late Show, and Stephen Colbert asked the question everyone wants to know: Who will win the election, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? Clinton headed into the final debate with a 7-point lead, and all the scientific polls — and some of the unscientific ones — say she won the debate, Silver said, "so it's not looking too good for Donald J. Trump." Colbert made Silver admit that the one politician he has been really wrong about is Trump, and Silver said "we evolved" and foolishly didn't believe the polls back in the GOP primary.
Trump's "problem is now, he has only about 38 percent of the vote," Silver said. "Clinton has 45 percent of the vote, there are some undecideds left, I don't think he did a good job of persuading them tonight." Who are these undecided people, and how many are there? Colbert asked, "because I think at this point, those people don't need more information, they need more medication." "They are people who don't like either candidate," Silver said. "I mean, there's this guy named Evan McMullin in Utah, who is literally someone no one ever heard of, and he's now leading in some polls of Utah." "Evan McMullin?" Colbert said, writing down his name. "So there's a guy I've never heard of who might win the electoral college vote in Utah?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproarSpeed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
-
Kevin Hart awarded Mark Twain PrizeSpeed Read He is the 25th recipient of the prestigious comedy prize
-
Is Downton Abbey set to return for a final film?Speed Read Imelda Staunton reveals that a third movie may be in the pipeline
-
'Oppenheimer' sweeps Oscars with 7 winsspeed read The film won best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best actor (Cillian Murphy)
-
'Rust' armorer convicted of manslaughterspeed read The film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed by actor Alec Baldwin during rehearsal
-
The Beatles are getting 4 intersecting biopicsSpeed Read Director Sam Mendes is making four separate movies, each told from the perspective of one band member
