January 10, 2019

A television western from 1958 was said to have "predicted Donald Trump", and the clips from it continue to make the rounds, a full two years after Trump got elected.

Judge for yourself if this snake oil salesman isn't a dead ringer for the current occupant of the Oval Office, also named Trump.

Source: Snopes

In November 2016, a clip from an episode of the 1950s western television series Trackdown was published to YouTube, along with the claim that it “predicted Donald Trump” by featuring a snake oil salesman character named “Trump” who claimed that only he could prevent the end of the world … by building a wall around the town.
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The television series Trackdown really did produce an episode featuring a “Trump” character who came to town claiming that only he could prevent the end of the world by building a wall (and also sold special force propelling umbrellas to deflect meteorites). The episode (S1, E30) aired on CBS in 1958 and was titled “The End of the World,” featuring actor Lawrence Dobkin playing the role of “Walter Trump.”
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A relevant portion of dialog from this episode has been transcribed below:

Narrator: The people were ready to believe. Like sheep they ran to the slaughterhouse. And waiting for them was the high priest of fraud.

Trump: I am the only one. Trust me. I can build a wall around your homes that nothing will penetrate.

Townperson: What do we do? How can we save ourselves?

Trump: You ask how do you build that wall. You ask, and I’m here to tell you.

And if you want to see the entire episode here it is below, which ends happily with Trump getting plugged.

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