--- ---  # 'I Hope I Was Trying to Be Funny.' Samuel L. Jackson Really Didn't Want His 2016 Trump Prediction to Come True  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jun 11, 2019 2:57 PM UTC  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert—CBS  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jun 11, 2019 2:57 PM UTC [Samuel L. Jackson](https://time.com/5533325/nick-fury-marvel/) may not have wanted to be right about [Trump](https://time.com/5599958/donald-trump-treason-investigations/) becoming president, but that didn’t stop [Stephen Colbert](https://time.com/5529612/colbert-shutdown-trump/) from reminding him about an uncannily accurate prediction he made concerning the 2016 election. During a Monday appearance on _The Late Show_ to promote his new movie _Shaft_, Jackson told Colbert that he hoped he was kidding when he made a prophetic remark about a potential Trump presidency while sitting in the very same seat three years prior. “Don’t think the other thing can’t happen,” Jackson warned people who were convinced that Hillary Clinton would come out on top in 2016\. “That’s why the Brexit is trying to get a recall right now. But we’re not gonna get a do-over!” “What’s wrong with me!?” Jackson mused over the flashback clip before adding that his goal was to try to get people to go vote. “I didn’t want to be right. I hope I was trying to be funny.” “You’re a prophet and you didn’t know it,” Colbert replied. Watch the full clip of [Samuel L. Jackson on Colbert](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/07/arts/television/stephen-colbert-republicans-rebellion.html) below. Samuel L Jackson Didn't Want Trump Prediction to Come True ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5604627/samuel-l-jackson-trump-prediction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5604627/samuel-l-jackson-trump-prediction/"},"headline":"'I Hope I Was Trying to Be Funny.' Samuel L. Jackson Really Didn't Want His 2016 Trump Prediction to Come True","datePublished":"2019-06-11T14:57:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:59:10.550Z","description":"\"What's wrong with me!?\"","url":"https://time.com/5604627/samuel-l-jackson-trump-prediction/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","stephen colbert","Samuel L. Jackson","TV","Late Night Television","the late show with stephen colbert","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c12aa152c95c8d4/69894b0f8fd2ee77ec35e620/screen-shot-2019-06-11-at-10.50.20-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c12aa152c95c8d4/69894b0f8fd2ee77ec35e620/screen-shot-2019-06-11-at-10.50.20-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Samuel-L-Jackson-Trump-Prediction","caption":"","creditText":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert—CBS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5604627/samuel-l-jackson-trump-prediction/","name":"'I Hope I Was Trying to Be Funny.' Samuel L. Jackson Really Didn't Want His 2016 Trump Prediction to Come True"}}]}] ```