ClaimsNate Silver

“The other 48 of 50 “calls” will be right, assuming that Trump’s leads hold in Arizona and Nevada, which they almost certainly will.”

Nate Silver, author of Silver Bulletin 7 November 2024 The model exactly predicted the most likely election map (Silver Bulletin) archived copy

Prediction Their own work or organisation Political

The model's other 48 of 50 state calls will be right, assuming Trump's leads in Arizona and Nevada hold, which Silver said they almost certainly will.

Unresolvable The public record could not settle it.

Prediction: Statements about events outside the person's control, checked once they fell due: did they come true?

What would count as true or false

True: the certified results show Trump winning both Arizona and Nevada, and the model's final favourite matched the actual winner in exactly 48 of the 50 states. Mostly true: Arizona and Nevada go to Trump, but the count of correct calls is off by one (47 or 49). Mixed: only one of Arizona and Nevada goes to Trump. Mostly false: neither goes to Trump, but the other calls are largely as stated. False: neither goes to Trump and the count of correct calls is off by more than one. Use final certified results, even if certification came after November 2024.

Set before the research began.

Evidence (7)

  1. E1 [PDF] Arizona Certificate of Ascertainment 2024 U.S. National Archives (Office of the Federal Register, Electoral College records), certificate issued by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs · 14 October 2025

    “REPUBLICAN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance”
  2. E2 Nevada Supreme Court certifies general election, governor says results not fast enough KUNR Public Radio · 27 November 2024

    “On Dec. 17, the Electoral College will meet to cast electoral votes for Donald Trump and JD Vance based on the popular vote in Nevada.”
  3. E3 Who called the election right and who got it wrong? Newsweek · 6 November 2024

    “His model, the Silver Bulletin, predicted on Tuesday that Harris had a 50 percent chance of winning the Electoral College, compared to Trump's 49.6 percent after weeks of showing Trump with the edge.”
  4. E4 Who called the election right and who got it wrong? Newsweek · 6 November 2024

    “he could pick up more, as Michigan, Nevada and Arizona have not finished counting their votes.”
  5. E5 Arizona Gov. Hobbs, Secretary of State Fontes, others certify 2024 election results Capitol Media Services (via KAWC) · 25 November 2024

    “And the results confirmed that Donald Trump outpolled Kamala Harris 1,770,242 to 1,582,860.”
  6. E6 Our best and worst takes of 2024 Silver Bulletin (Nate Silver) · 31 December 2024 Own record

    “Indeed, the actual map that occurred — with Trump winning all 7 swing states but everything else going to form — was the modal (single most likely) outcome in our forecast.”
  7. E7 FINAL Silver Bulletin 2024 presidential election forecast Silver Bulletin (Nate Silver) · 5 November 2024 Own record

    “So here is how our model translates polls and the other inputs it uses into probabilities in the Electoral College and the popular vote in every state”

Reasoning

Arizona's certified results show Trump ahead of Harris, 1,770,242 to 1,582,860 (E5), and its certificate of ascertainment lists the Trump–Vance electors (E1). A report on Nevada's certification says the state's electoral votes will go to Trump and Vance (E2). So the first condition, Trump holding both states, is met. However, none of the evidence gives the model's final favourite in each state: E7 has no state-by-state table, and E3 gives only national odds. E6 is Silver's own retrospective, says the actual map was the single most likely outcome, and doesn't name per-state favourites. Without those favourites, there is no way to tell whether exactly 48 calls were right (true) or 47 or 49 (mostly true).

Cite this claim

Nate Silver, “The model's other 48 of 50 state calls will be right, assuming Trump's leads in Arizona and Nevada hold, which Silver said they almost certainly will.” (said 7 November 2024). Verdict: unresolvable. Reliability API, claim c_22278281b33d, method 0.1.0+28da144b, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_22278281b33d

This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.

Reply to this claim

For Nate Silver, or someone speaking for them: a correction or counter-evidence. Replies are read before anything is shown; an approved reply shows your name, role, date, statement and link. Your email address is never shown and is deleted 30 days after the decision (privacy).

More prediction claims by Nate Silver

  1. Mixed Prediction 8 April 2025
    “Children's toys are gonna become much more expensive because they're made in countries like Vietnam in Southeast Asia that are heavily taraffed.”

    Children's toys will become much more expensive in the US because they are made in heavily tariffed countries such as Vietnam.

  2. Mostly true Prediction 13 August 2024
    “I think people might understand with Kamala Harris that it's inherently a difficult circumstance and a little bit of a long shot bid, but that her chances are probably better than Biden.”

    Kamala Harris's bid is inherently difficult and a little bit of a long shot, but her chances of winning the 2024 presidential election are probably better than Joe Biden's were.

  3. Mixed Prediction 8 September 2023
    “Most voters aren’t paying attention yet, and it will be nine months to a year before they do.”

    Most US voters will not start paying attention to the 2024 presidential election until nine months to a year after September 2023.

  4. Mostly false Prediction 8 September 2023
    “I’d argue that 1 (Biden winning) is more likely than 2 (Trump winning) which, in turn, is more likely than 3 (someone else winning).”

    Biden winning the 2024 presidential election is more likely than Trump winning, which is more likely than someone else winning.

  5. Mostly false Prediction 8 September 2023
    “If Trump does well in Iowa and New Hampshire — and there’s no snafu for Biden — they could become their party’s presumptive nominees as soon as February”

    If Trump does well in Iowa and New Hampshire and Biden has no snafu, Trump and Biden could become their parties' presumptive 2024 nominees as soon as February 2024.

All of them

Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.