A Democratic strategist who previously predicted how long it would take for Donald Trump’s administration to “collapse” now claims that moment has arrived—sooner than he expected.
James Carville, the well-known 80-year-old political consultant, had made his prediction just weeks after Trump returned to the White House on January 20.
In an interview with Mediaite’s Dan Abrams, Carville explained that he believed the president’s downfall would be driven by sinking approval ratings, triggered by the mass firing of government officials and a series of controversial executive orders.
In an interview conducted just a month after Trump returned to office, Carville referenced a poll showing the former president’s approval rating had plummeted from the low 50s to the upper 30s. He predicted that the administration would crumble in “less than 30 days,” especially “in public opinion.”
“Democrats need to play possum,” he remarked. “This whole thing is collapsing.”
Now, just one month later, Carville claims that collapse has already happened.
Speaking to CNN following reports that the Trump administration had accidentally leaked war plans to Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg via the messaging app Signal, Carville admitted he had been “wrong” about his earlier timeline.
Pointing out that he had initially predicted the collapse would happen by Memorial Day on May 26, he noted: “It’s before April Fool’s Day – which the Trump administration should make a national holiday because it so accurately represents who they are.”
He went on: “We look at what’s happening in the markets, we look at what’s happening on Signal-gate, we look what’s happening all the way around us […] I think the thing is collapsed.”
While Carville did not shy away from sharing his views, he added: “Let’s take the middle ground here and say ‘it’s collapsing’ – I’ll meet you halfway, but that’s about all I can do.”
When questioned about data indicating that Trump is now “more popular” than when he was elected for a second term, Carville responded: “It doesn’t matter what the party rating is, what matters are elections.”
He then went on to criticize the current state of the U.S. government, stating that the country was being led by “buffoons” and adding: “Again, I thought I’d have to wait longer for the collapse, it happened even faster than I could imagine.”