Bookmakers Are Taking Bets On A Trump Impeachment

(The image above is from Truth Revolt.)

The following is part of an article by Steven Shepard at Politico:

There’s already talk of impeachment, just three weeks into Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency. In fact, many are already betting on it.

Gambling houses all over the world are taking in action on whether Trump, inaugurated just last month, will resign or be impeached. And the odds aren’t as long as you might think.

Ladbrokes, the British oddsmaking giant, has Trump’s chances of leaving office via resignation or impeachment and removal at just 11-to-10, or just a little worse than even money. The odds of Trump being impeached this year in the House of Representatives are only 4-to-1, according to the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, despite GOP control of the chamber. You can win $180 on a $100 bet with Bovada, the online gaming site, that Trump won’t make it through a full term — though the bet is off if Trump passes away during the next four years.

All in all, Trump has meant big business for the international gambling industry. There’s always been betting on politics — mostly as a novelty around election season — but professional bookies say Trump’s unlikely victory and tumultuous transition mean that gamblers are jonesing to wager on his presidency.

“From a betting perspective, Donald Trump’s presidency has triggered a massive boom for these kinds of markets,” said Alex Donohue, the PR manager of Ladbrokes. “With Donald Trump, everything he does, it can be turn into speculation, and that can be turned into gambling.”

Given Republican control of Congress, impeachment seems, at best, a remote possibility in the next two years. Still, Trump’s continued ties to his businesses, and his attacks on federal judges have fueled talk that Congress could seek to remove him. The Democratic automated-polling firm Public Policy Polling — the latest of its series of “troll polls” designed, in part, to embarrass Republicans — found last week that 46 percent of registered voters would favor impeaching Trump.

Betting on Trump’s possible impeachment began shortly after his November election victory. But the scuttlebutt was under way well before Trump even officially became the GOP’s nominee. As far back as April 2016, constitutional scholars, pundits, and even several members of Congress were speculating that his fiery rhetoric and unorthodox style might lead to impeachable offenses as president.