Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore was on Seth Meyers’ “Late Night” on Wednesday talking about US president-elect Donald Trump. Meyers asks, “at a time when [Trump] was down in the polls and people thought you were crazy… is this a case where you are bummed out [about] how right you were?” Moore answered with:
“Yes, I never wanted to be more wrong.”
Meyers was of course referring to Moore’s July article “5 reasons why Trump will win.” The article awarded Moore with praise from the media, which has some lauding him as the only sensible pundit who could see through the fog of this past election.
However, the overall coverage of Moore’s article to date fails to mention a second, much-less shared article, written not even a month later, titled: “Trump Is Self-Sabotaging His Campaign Because He Never Really Wanted The Job In The First Place.”
In the article, Moore essentially retracts his earlier statements, saying:
“Maybe the meltdown of the past three weeks was no accident. Maybe it’s all part of his new strategy to get the hell out of a race he never intended to see through to its end anyway. Because, unless he is just “crazy,” the only explanation for the unusual ramping up, day after day, of one disgustingly reckless statement after another is that he’s doing it consciously (or subconsciously) so that he’ll have to bow out or blame “others” for forcing him out. Many now are sensing the end game here because they know Trump seriously doesn’t want to do the actual job…— and, most importantly, he cannot and WILL NOT suffer through being officially and legally declared a loser — LOSER! — on the night of November 8th.”
Moore even goes on to address Trump directly in the postscript:
“Don, if you’re reading this, do it soon. Give your pathetic party a chance to pick up the pieces and nominate Ryan or Romney so they can be the ones to lose the White House.”
So, while Moore did write an article predicting Trump would win, he also wrote a subsequent article revealing he expected Trump might lose after all. In other words, Moore positioned himself to be right regardless of whether Trump won or lost.
Why has there been no coverage of the latter story?
The media is misleading the public by disregarding such significant backtracking and speaks to the broader issue of online punditry where media figures can conveniently pick the headline that gives them the best story.
Perhaps the absence of such a full account and oversight is what has emboldened Moore to make yet another unconventional “prediction” about Trump – that the Electoral College will stop Trump from becoming President.
[Update: January 20 2017] – And surprise, surprise, Moore was wrong about the Electoral College stopping Trump.
[Update: January 31 2017] – His prediction rampage is continuing with another one now that the US is in the middle of a coup being lead by President Trump.