Here in America, another so-called “election” has come and gone. This time the Democrats forgot to rig the voting booths, so now Donald Trump gets to be the president again, as a treat. Let’s take a look at The Simpsons‘s so-called “predictions” and see how they stacked up. And yes, they are not predictions, they are jokes and satire is dead, but let’s go along with it anyway.
INACCURATE:
Woman in purple suit wins election (“Bart to the Future,” 2000)
There was this flimsy “prediction” spread by many (and endorsed by executive producer Al Jean) that Kamala Harris would win the election because one time she wore a purple suit, and Lisa wore a purple suit in the episode where she becomes president. This… did not happen.
Electoral map (“Grampy Can Ya Hear Me,” 2017)
A number of news sources have said that the show predicted the 2024 electoral map with “eerie accuracy.” Except on the Simpsons map, Virginia is red??? Which means it’s NOT accurate??? You fucking idiots???
ACCURATE:
Famous squirrel killed (“Radio Bart,” 1992)
If you weren’t on Twitter in the days before the election, you might have missed the hubbub over the death of a squirrel named Peanut. Here’s a summary from user @purplechrain: “An OnlyFans model called Squirrel Daddy illegally owned an instagram famous pet squirrel, then the squirrel bit a cop & got euthanized to test for rabies, so Elon & online MAGA Twitter made AI tributes & think it will help Trump win the election b/c it happened in a blue state.”
Convicted felon with weird hair wins executive office (“Sideshow Bob Roberts,” 1994)
As Lisa says in the episode, “I can’t believe a convicted felon would get so many votes and another convicted felon would get so few.”
Trump elected in 2024 (“Bart to the Future,” 2000)
Yeah, yeah, we went through this in 2016, but it might actually be even more accurate now. “Bart to the Future” doesn’t give an exact year in the finished episode, but a draft of the script says Lisa won the presidential election in 2028:
(via ThatGuy3002)
There’s some wiggle room, as the episode doesn’t specifically say Trump was Lisa’s immediate predecessor from whom she inherited “quite the budget crunch,” which would mean he won the 2024 election (I think the implication was that he would win in 2000)… but it also doesn’t say he wasn’t. Furthermore, for Lisa to be the 47th president, the writer(s) would have to assume that from 2000 to 2024 three presidents would win two terms of office and one would be a one-termer… which would end up being accurate to reality, but Trump’s two terms being non-consecutive messes up the numbering.
Honorable mention: Democrats run as Republicans (Life in Hell, 1996)
(via Nina Matsumoto)
This one is pretty evergreen.
YET TO BE DETERMINED:
Elderly rich guy hires Elon Musk and later attempts to have him assassinated (“The Musk Who Fell to Earth,” 2015)
