President-elect Donald Trump is calling for an investigation into the pollster behind the widely criticized Iowa poll that inaccurately predicted Kamala Harris would win the state. The poll, conducted by J. Ann Selzer and published by the Des Moines Register just before Election Day, showed Harris leading Trump by three percentage points, which was a significant departure from the final results, where Trump won by 13 points.
Trump criticized Selzer’s poll, calling it “totally Fake” and accusing the pollster of intentionally misleading the public. He claimed that the poll created “great distrust and uncertainty” at a critical time during the election. Trump further suggested that Selzer’s actions were part of an effort to misinform voters for the benefit of Harris. “She knew exactly what she was doing,” Trump stated on Truth Social, demanding an investigation into the poll and the newspaper that published it.
🚨 BREAKING: Trump calls for investigation into disgraced Iowa pollster Ann Selzer – who released a poll showing Harris winning the state by 3 points just before Election Day.
She was wrong by 16 – and is now "moving on" to other ventures.
TRUMP: "She knew exactly what she was… pic.twitter.com/FlQNIHrF0v
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 17, 2024
In response to the backlash, Selzer explained that polling is not always an exact science and acknowledged that she was surprised by the results. She announced that she would be stepping away from election polling and released a 19-page analysis of where she might have gone wrong. Despite this, Trump’s camp has called her actions into question, alleging that the timing and nature of the poll may have influenced voter perceptions unfairly.
Trump’s representative, Steven Cheung, did not back down from the accusations, suggesting that Selzer’s polling misrepresented the true state of the race and undermined confidence in the election. Cheung claimed that Selzer had “beclowned herself” with her poll, and he stood behind the president’s call for accountability.
Trump slams pollster whose ‘totally fake poll’ showed Harris winning Iowa, calls for probe https://t.co/ns9tLcaJqQ pic.twitter.com/GWU7dh6sFT
— New York Post (@nypost) November 18, 2024
The controversy has raised broader concerns about the accuracy of polling and the potential for polls to shape public opinion in ways that may not reflect the actual election results. With Iowa playing a key role in the 2024 election, Trump’s campaign continues to argue that the faulty polling played a significant part in sowing uncertainty among voters.
