President-elect Donald Trump believes there was something more at work than a data error in a last-minute poll that showed Trump losing in Iowa to Kamala Harris.
As noted by USA Today, the poll by J. Ann Selzer showed Trump losing to Harris by three percentage points. He won the state by 13 points.
The poll was published on the Saturday before Election Day by the Des Moines Register, which said the poll showed Harris “leapfrogs” Trump.
“She has clearly leaped into a leading position,” Selzer said in comments that suggested what Americans believed to be a nail-biter of a contest was tipping towards Harris.
Trump said the pollster needs to pay a price for spreading fake news.
🚨BREAKING: PRESIDENT TRUMP JUST CALLED FOR AN INVESTIGATION INTO FRAUD POLLSTER FOR ELECTION FRAUD!
“…possible ELECTION FRAUD by Ann Selzer and the now discredited ‘newspaper’ for which she works. An investigation is fully called for!” pic.twitter.com/eGeSUv2C6U
— Bo Loudon (@BoLoudon) November 17, 2024
“A totally Fake poll that caused great distrust and uncertainty at a very critical time. She knew exactly what she was doing,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Thank you to the GREAT PEOPLE OF IOWA for giving me such a record breaking vote, despite possible ELECTION FRAUD by Ann Selzer and the now discredited ‘newspaper’ for which she works. An investigation is fully called for!” Trump wrote.
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When USA Today asked Trump representative Steven Cheung it he was implying there should be a criminal investigation of Selzer, Cheung said, “President Trump was very clear in his Truth Social post.”
Selzer “beclowned herself during the last days of the campaign in a seemingly blatant attempt to misinform the public for the benefit of Kamala Harris,” Cheung said.
Selzer announced that she is done with election polling on Sunday.
“Would I have liked to make this announcement after a final poll aligned with Election Day results? Of course. It’s ironic that it’s just the opposite,” Selzer wrote in an Op-Ed for the Des Moines Register.
“I am proud of the work I’ve done for the Register, for the Detroit Free Press, for the Indianapolis Star, for Bloomberg News and for other public and private organizations interested in elections,” she wrote.
Donald J. Trump’s Election Day results put Ann Selzer’s fake news polling to shame.
Iowans proved her wrong once and for all — Iowa is Trump Country! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/sDaoSJ8jBB
— Joni Ernst (@joniernst) November 17, 2024
“Polling is a science of estimation, and science has a way of periodically humbling the scientist. So, I’m humbled, yet always willing to learn from unexpected findings,” Selzer wrote.
In her post, she said her “history of accuracy” may have led her not to question the poll results.
Selzer also released a 19-page analysis of where she might have gone wrong.
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