If he's the nominee.
Donald Trump will be president, SUNY professor predicts with 97 percent certainty
MORE: Donald Trump will be president, SUNY professor predicts with 97 percent certainty
Donald Trump will be president, SUNY professor predicts with 97 percent certainty
President Trump? A SUNY professor says he's "almost certain" it will happen.
Helmut Norpoth, a political science professor at Stony Brook University, says that his statistical model predicted Donald Trump will win the election if he's the Republican nominee. The billionaire businessman has a 97 percent chance of beating Hillary Clinton in the general election and a 99 percent chance of beating Bernie Sanders, according to Norpoth.
The Statesman reports Norpoth uses statistics from candidates' performances in their party's primary and patterns in the electoral cycle to forecast national election results. The equation correctly predicted Bill Clinton's victory in 1996, George W. Bush in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2012.
In fact, Norpoth's model has correctly predicted the outcome of every presidential election since 1912 except one, according to the Daily Mail. In 1960, John F. Kennedy beat Richard Nixon in one of the closest races in U.S. history.
"When I started out with this kind of display a few months ago, I thought it was sort of a joke," Norpoth said at a gathering Monday at the SUNY Global Center in Manhattan. "Well, I'll tell you right now, it ain't a joke anymore."
MORE: Donald Trump will be president, SUNY professor predicts with 97 percent certainty