If 2016 and 2017 have taught us anything, it's that so-called data and politics experts should never bet that their elections predictions are correct. It's a surefire recipe for national embarrassment.
Take, for example, Dr. Sam Wang who was forced to eat a dead cricket on CNN because he predicted with certainty that Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump in the electoral college. And now, author Matthew Goodwin was obligated to eat his book because he incorrectly predicted Jeremy Corbyn would not earn more than 38 percent of the poll.
But, as it turned out, Corbyn defied expectations and won 40.3 percent of the vote, and so it was time for Corbyn to quite literally eat his words. "I did say I would eat this book... Two percentage points makes a big difference, and I am a man of my word. So I'm going to sit here and eat my book while you carry on," Goodwin said on Sky News before chomping on some pages.
"Just quickly, the consistency—is it strong and stable or weak and wobbly?" the Sky News anchor asked while Goodwin spat out the pages.
While it's somewhat satisfying to watch Goodwin humiliate himself, it's ultimately hollow satisfaction because we all know this is really just a ploy to sell his book.
