The chances of Donald Trump winning the 2024 presidential election have increased to their highest level ever, according to a leading bookmaker, following the Republican presidential frontrunner’s victory in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.
Trump won the primary by 54.5 percent to Nikki Haley’s 43.2 percent according to the Associated Press. This follows on from his overwhelming Iowa caucus win on January 15. After the Iowa result, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who polling showed had been Trump’s closest rival for most of the GOP race, dropped out and endorsed the former president.
According to Betfair, a U.K.-based betting company, the odds of Trump winning a second White House term in November have increased to 21/20, giving him a 49 percent chance of victory later this year.
This is the best odds Trump has had since the Betfair Exchange market opened for the 2024 presidential election, making him the clear frontrunner ahead of incumbent President Joe Biden on 34 percent. The two lead candidates are followed by Michelle Obama and California Governor Gavin Newsom each with four percent, then Haley and independent challenger Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with three percent each.
Speaking to Newsweek, Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said: “Odds on Donald Trump to return to the White House continue to shorten following his win in the New Hampshire Primary, which has effectively paved the way for November’s vote to be a re-run of the 2020 election.
“After winning in both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, he has become the first Republican to win both in an open campaign in almost 50 years and punters have backed him into his shortest odds at 21/20 to return to the Oval Office since the market opened, which gives him around a 49 percent chance.
“Four years ago, Joe Biden was as big as 99/1 to be President at this stage of the race, and while his odds aren’t currently anywhere near what they were back then, the incumbent is trailing Trump at 2/1 (34 percent).”
Newsweek reached out to representatives of Donald Trump by email at 5:30 a.m. ET and this story will be updated if a comment is received.
According to the company, $1.7 billion was traded on Betfair’s exchange for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, with more than $22 million worth of bets having been placed for the 2024 contest thus far.
Trump hit out at Haley after his victory in New Hampshire, telling supporters: “She’s doing…a speech like she won. She didn’t win. She lost.”
Trump’s remarks came after Haley told campaigners in Concord that she is remaining in the race, commenting: “New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not the last in the nation. This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go, and the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina.”
Haley said that with Trump “you have one bout of chaos after another,” adding: “You can’t fix Joe Biden’s chaos with Republican chaos.”
Biden won the Democrat’s New Hampshire primary on Tuesday with 67 percent of the vote ahead of Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman, who got 19 percent. The White House incumbent achieved this despite supporters having to write in his name due to a row between the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party in New Hampshire. The national party had moved the New Hampshire primary so the first Democratic contest would take place in South Carolina next month, but New Hampshire Democrats ignored this decision and went ahead with their primary on January 24.
Source: newsweek