Donald Trump's Chances of Winning Election Slump After RNC Speech

Donald Trump's odds of winning the 2024 presidential election have weakened in the aftermath of his speech to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday, according to a leading bookmaker.

Trump delivered a convention speech lasting over 90 minutes as he formally accepted the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination.

During his address, Trump dubbed Joe Biden "the worst president in history" before adding: "America's future will be bigger, better, bolder, brighter, happier, stronger, freer, greater and more united than ever before. Quite simply put, we will very quickly make America great again."

However, at times, the Republican nominee appeared to meander across wildly unrelated topics and, at one point, sparked mockery on social media by referring to a fictional serial killer as "the late great Hannibal Lecter."

An NBC News reporter claimed that several people seated around him fell asleep while Trump was speaking.

Following the speech, David Axelrod, the former chief strategist for Barack Obama's election campaigns, told CNN that it was "the first good thing that's happened to Democrats in the last three weeks."

Former President Donald Trump speaks after officially accepting the Republican presidential nomination at the RNC on July 18. Trump's odds of victory weakened after his RNC speech, according to one leading bookmaker. Former President Donald Trump speaks after officially accepting the Republican presidential nomination at the RNC on July 18. Trump's odds of victory weakened after his RNC speech, according to one leading bookmaker. Andrew Harnik/GETTY

The William Hill odds of a Trump victory in November lengthened from 2/5 (71.4 percent) on Thursday before his convention address to 8/15 (65.2 percent) on Friday.

Over the same period, Biden's odds of securing reelection later this year deteriorated substantially to just 12/1 (7.7 percent) as the president faces pressure from within his own party to withdraw from the race.

It follows a wave of concern over the age and mental aptitude of 81-year-old Biden, which was sparked by his first presidential debate with Trump on June 27. At several points during the debate, the Democratic incumbent appeared to lose his train of thought mid-sentence.

Speaking to Newsweek, William Hill spokesman Lee Phelps said: "Joe Biden's hopes of keeping his place in the Oval Office are dwindling, and he is now a huge 12/1 to win November's election.

"Vice President Kamala Harris looks to be the only candidate to replace Biden in the running, and the Californian is 11/4 to be the next U.S. president.

"Donald Trump remains the overwhelming favorite, but his odds have lengthened a touch – now 8/15 to return to the White House."

Newsweek reached out to Donald Trump and Joe Biden's campaigns for comment via email.

Polling guru Nate Silver was initially optimistic about Trump's convention speech on Thursday, writing on X, formerly Twitter, "It's a weird but pretty good speech. The past few weeks have gone about as badly as possible for Democrats, and they're likely underdogs against Trump regardless of who they nominate, but the opportunity to reset the campaign with a non-Biden nominee is a twist of good fortune."

However, he later changed his mind, writing on X: "Fully RETRACT and RESCIND, sometimes it seems like both parties are trying to throw this election."

New York Times columnist Ezra Klein said: "Tonight's speech is going to harden Democrats' spines. The best argument against the party replacing Biden was fatalism: if you'll lose anyway, may as well lose conventionally.

"But no Democrat watching that speech thought Trump unbeatable. It was an antidote to fatalism."

Update 7/19/24, 11:25 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.