Trump erupts after polls say he would lose to every major Democrat in 2020: ‘They don’t even exist’
President claims without evidence that polling institutions ‘suppress the numbers’ against him
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has claimed a wave of new polling from the 2020 presidential campaign season is fake after recent surveys showed every major Democrat vying for the White House besting the president in the upcoming election.
“The Fake News has never been more dishonest than it is today,” the president began in a series of Wednesday morning tweets. “Their new weapon of choice is Fake Polling, sometimes referred to as Suppression Polls (they suppress the numbers).”
“The Fake (Corrupt) News Media said they had a leak into polling done by my campaign which, by the way and despite the phony and never ending Witch Hunt, are the best numbers WE have ever had,” he continued, addressing reports from Tuesday that said he had instructed his aides to deny internal polling data that showed former Vice President Joe Biden beating him in 2020.
“They reported Fake numbers that they made up & don’t even exist,” Mr Trump wrote. “WE WILL WIN AGAIN!”
The president’s comments came after a Quinnipiac University poll released this week showed head-to-head matchups against him and several leading 2020 Democrats.
Mr Trump trailed Mr Biden — the clear frontrunner thus far in the Democratic primaries — by a whopping 13 per cent, while Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and others all held strong advantages as well.
His remarks also came after a New York Times story looked at internal polling conducted by Tony Fabrizio across 17 states, reportedly showing Mr Trump trailing the former vice president in several key states for his re-election.
Despite his claims of “fake polling,” a vast range of surveys conducted by a variety of news organisations, polling groups and universities show the president losing against his top opponents time and time again.
In fact, Mr Trump even falls behind Mr Biden in the deeply red state of Texas, where another Quinnipiac University poll conducted last week showed the former vice president four points ahead of him.
Shortly after posting the tweets about alleged false polling, Mr Trump retweeted his post from Monday touting a 50 per cent approval rating according to Rasmussen.
The remarks also arrived a day after Mr Trump and Mr Biden held duelling rallies in Iowa, in which the president referred to Mr Biden as a “dummy” and the former vice president referred to Mr Trump as an “existential threat.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments