The Simpsons’ Prediction Falls Short as Kamala Harris Loses 2024 Election

The Simpsons’ reputation for eerily accurate predictions hit a snag in the 2024 election, as Kamala Harris did not secure the presidency, marking a rare miss for the long-running series.

In a past episode titled “Bart to the Future,” aired in 2000, the show depicted Lisa Simpson as the first female president of the United States, dressed in an outfit strikingly similar to what Harris wore at the 2021 inauguration. This coincidence fueled speculation about Harris’s potential victory. In the episode, Lisa remarks on inheriting a budget crunch from “President Trump,” adding a layer of irony given the show’s history of predictions.

Despite the anticipation, Harris, who chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, was defeated by Donald Trump and his vice-presidential pick, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

The unexpected outcome sparked reactions among fans on social media platform X, with many expressing their surprise at The Simpsons’ failed prediction. “For the first time ever, The Simpsons got it wrong,” one user posted. Another speculated on whether this misprediction might signal an end to the show’s prophetic streak.

The Simpsons had famously foretold Trump’s presidency in a 2016 episode, a prediction show creator Matt Groening once described to The Guardian as “the most absurd placeholder joke name we could think of at the time.” Just last month, showrunner Matt Salman explained the show’s predictive success to People magazine, attributing it to a blend of historical insight and mathematical inevitability. “If you study history and math,” Salman remarked, “it would be literally impossible for us not to predict things.”