Howard Stern Predicts Donald Trump Will Win GOP Nomination Because ‘People Dig Him’

Howard Stern predicted on his SiriusXM radio show today that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in the 2016 general election.

Stern’s prognostication runs counter to many of the Beltway pundits across the ideological spectrum who have insisted the Trump candidacy will fade. According to new online polling from Reuters/Ipsos, however, the bombastic real estate mogul and ex-reality show star has increased his lead over the 17-candidate GOP field, receiving 32 percent over his closest rival, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

The RealClearPolitics polling average indicates that Trump is getting 22 percent national support, also good for first place, up about 11 percent over Bush in the second spot. Dr. Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon and another first-time candidate, is in third place in the polling data.

In discussing Trump’s unconventional candidacy, which includes making various outlandish statements/gaffes along with a series of rambling, freewheeling campaign speeches such as the one that drew approximately 30,000 attendees in Alabama Friday night, Howard Stern offered this assessment, The Hill reported.

“I’ll tell you why I think he’s going to be the nominee: He’s proven that no matter what he says, people dig him…I think more or less, people are just sick and tired of politicians, meaning that they like the idea of a successful businessman running the country who might actually be able to get sh*t done…Forget all these politicians who are professionals. We want to try somebody who is used to a business kind of thing.”

The judge on the America’s Got Talent television show also suggested that voters see some of Ronald Reagan’s “talent” in Trump, the latter also being a recurring guest on Stern’s radio show. Of President Reagan, Stern declared that “He was a B-list movie star who became a very successful president. And so they’re looking back to those days and going, ‘Hey, maybe that’s the answer.'”

While they may share a charismatic appeal, however, there are some significant differences in that — among other things — Ronald Reagan came from very humble beginnings, served in the military, was a union president, and was elected to two terms as California governor before winning the White House. Both were Democrats before switching to the Republican Party prior to seeking public office.

With regard to Trump’s controversial immigration plan, Howard Stern added that Trump may be saying things that ordinary Americans are reluctant to express.

Separately, Howard Stern, 61, supposedly has watered down his talk show and is no longer the firebrand that he was first on terrestrial radio and in recent years on satellite radio, according to the New York Post.

“Howard Stern has become politically correct, and the woman getting the credit — or the blame — for taming the shock jock isn’t his wife, Beth Ostrosky. As the old Wack Pack has disappeared and loyal staffers have been booted, the woman being called ‘the Yoko Ono of the Stern show’ is the chief operating officer of the Stern channels on SiriusXM radio — Marci Turk”

Some critics have even nicknamed Stern “Howie Hamptons” for allegedly morphing into the red-carpet celebrity that he and his crew used to mock mercilessly.

Stern’s contract with SiriusXM is up in December 2015.

Do you agree with Howard Stern that voters “dig” businessman Donald Trump because he’s not a career politician?

[Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images Entertainment]

Added: Audio of Howard Stern concluding the Donald Trump will get the GOP nomination, while adding that Trump will encounter difficulties getting his agenda through Congress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy7Dp8XhWoM

Update: Donald Trump called into the Howard Stern radio show this morning to discuss the presidential campaign and whether he would appoint Stern to the U.S. Supreme Court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvQO77AczAw