Conservative Commentator, Erick Erickson, on Monday, warned that gambling on real-world events – politics & war situations – through platforms like prediction markets is unethical and dangerous. He also mentioned that he does not trust the government, especially Donald Trump’s administration, to handle it well.
“Polymarket and other prediction markets are largely unregulated and are becoming increasingly notorious for this kind of behaviour — as well as for potential insider trading allegations, though given that some of those allegations touch the Trump administration,” Erickson said through his podcast, The Erick Erickson Show.
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Be part of the… pic.twitter.com/YPVTh8xdm8
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) March 14, 2026
According to AlterNet, these poly-market like platforms are where people can bet money on future events like election results, political conflicts, and global events. Because these platforms are unregulated, Erickson worries that there could be insider trading. Moreover, if a conflict of interest arises, the Trump administration might not even them investigate properly, since many of his known associates could be a part of it.
Further, he said, “These markets are deeply corrupting. And keep in mind: from CNN to Fox News and others, there is a growing movement to give prediction markets news coverage and to formally partner with them — the same dynamic we’re already seeing between sports broadcasters and sports betting apps. Consider how many athletes we’ve seen implicated in sports betting corruption. How long before news organizations start corrupting their own coverage to profit from the prediction markets they’re partnered with?”
Erick Erickson is more willing to be honest and criticize the President when it is needed than the others, so I would say him.
— Melanie (@mheinz16) March 17, 2026
Another commentator, Joe Perticone, who discussed the same topic while writing for The Bulwark in March, also condemned the idea. He emphasises how morally corrupt it is to bet against sensitive topics like war.
“Like dogfighting, gambling on war is the sort of hobby that is best described in simple, direct moral terms,” Perticone said. “(‘Satanic’ was the one that came to my mind.) But I wanted to pose the question about regulating or banning this industry to some of the lawmakers who are familiar with prediction markets.”
Returning to Erickson, who, on his podcast a few days back, hinted at the other issues through which he has parted ways with Trump. He talked about Ken Paxton, stating that his weak, scandalous candidacy could cost the party in elections.
“In truth, Paxton might win, particularly if the Democrats nominate Jasmine Crockett,” Erickson said. “But the amount of resources Republicans will have to spend on getting Paxton across the finish line will divert critical money from Georgia to beat [Jon] Ossoff, Maine to help Susan Collins, Michigan to help Mike Rogers, and North Carolina to stop Roy Cooper, among others,” he added.
Jasmine Crockett lost her primary in Texas to James Talarico.
After blasting Paxton, he also called out the GOP for not cutting ties with Trump’s advisor Steve Bannon, who had a deep friendship with the late abuser Jeffrey Epstein. Bannon received no scrutiny, with the Trump administration also clearing his records.
“We’ve gotten more and more details about Bannon’s close relationship with Epstein, and the Trump Administration wants to do Bannon a solid now,” Erickson added.
