Polymarket, a "prediction market" platform, stepped in it and showed the craven nature that is at the heart of these betting apps.
As RedState reported on Thursday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) took a victory lap over breaking through American and Israeli air supremacy to shoot down an American F-15E military craft with two pilots aboard. The pilots were forced to eject from the aircraft, and Tehran had already placed a bounty on their heads. Soon after, legacy media reported that one of the pilots had been rescued, while a search-and-rescue operation was employed to find the other pilot.
Someone on Polymarket decided this was an opportunity to also place a bounty on the heads of these pilots, wagering whether they would be rescued or if they would die.
Talk about life being cheap to some. It's "The Hunger Games" in real time.
Everything is money & monger ethics have no space in American society.
— Aditya Pratap Singh (@Adi_IIMCIAN) April 4, 2026
People are more gamblers than patriots now.
Polymarket allowed bets on the rescue of U.S. F-15 pilots shot down over Iran up to $930,000 on a single outcome. đź’¸
Human lives turned into trading chips. Can… pic.twitter.com/13YTuupTyx
Everything is money & monger ethics have no space in American society.
People are more gamblers than patriots now.
Polymarket allowed bets on the rescue of U.S. F-15 pilots shot down over Iran up to $930,000 on a single outcome.
Human lives turned into trading chips. Can you believe that?
A two-seater F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down on Friday, according to a U.S. official. One crew member was rescued, but the other remains missing.
In a since-deleted market, users were able to wager on when the pilots might be rescued, with the majority predicting a Saturday rescue.
“US confirms pilots rescued by...?” the market read.
The disgusted X poster rightly decried, "Human lives turned into trading chips. Can you believe that?"
Tragically, we can. Many of us on RedState have written extensively about the disregard and cheapening of life: from abortion, to the horrific reactions surrounding the attempted assassinations of President Donald Trump, to the truly egregious ones over the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Our ability to play God and diminish and disregard lives that we deem unworthy of consideration appears to have no bottom.
This is yet another exhibit.
It is incredible providence that the second pilot was rescued on Holy Saturday and is now safe and sound. But had this not been the case, this bet would be even more macabre and gross, if that were possible.
Read More: 'WE GOT HIM!' President Trump Responds As Second Airman Is Rescued From Enemy Territory in Iran
Reports: 1 Crew Member Rescued After Iran Downs US Fighter Jet, Search Continues for Second
Polymarket quickly(?) took the bet down and issued an apology.
Prediction market platform Polymarket issued an apology for allowing users to place bets on the fate of American pilots aboard a U.S. fighter jet downed over Iran.
In the broken clocks category, Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton (MA-06) called out Polymarket on this, but also managed to slam Donald Trump Jr. and, by extension, President Donald Trump, along with Polymarket.
Because...reasons.
There is an ongoing search and rescue operation for a missing American service member whose plane was shot down over Iran. Their safety is unknown.
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) April 3, 2026
They could be your neighbor, a friend, a family member. And people are betting on whether or not they'll be saved.
This is… pic.twitter.com/sMuS1x6YbL
There is an ongoing search and rescue operation for a missing American service member whose plane was shot down over Iran. Their safety is unknown.
They could be your neighbor, a friend, a family member. And people are betting on whether or not they'll be saved.
This is DISGUSTING.
Quick reminder too that @DonaldJTrumpJr is an investor in this dystopian death market and may have access to intelligence that isn't public yet.
Polymarket responded to each derogatory post calling out this bet. They claimed the wager slipped past their "internal safeguards."
We took this market down immediately as it does not meet our integrity standards.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) April 3, 2026
It should not have been posted, and we are investigating how this slipped through our internal safeguards.
Integrity standards? Mmmkay...
Gambling, on its face, lacks morality. It is a reckless wagering on your own abilities to manipulate chance or luck, and the addictive element for those prone to this cannot be discounted. I have never seen a happy addict. They are consumed on the next fix: that could be food, drugs, horses, or bingo. For the small number of people who make money playing games with others' lives and fortunes, you have thousands of others who are mortgaging their lives and family in the hopes of a big payday, but that big payday, if achieved, will never be enough.
It's disgusting on its face, yet here we are.
Thank God those pilots are no longer the object of speculation, but on Polymarket, someone or something else will take their place.
There is never an end to this, and if there will be, it won't be good.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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