Special Poll
During a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump declared his intention to file a lawsuit related to a pre-election poll conducted by Iowa pollster Ann Selzer, which was published by the Des Moines Register and backed by its parent company, Gannett. Trump expressed his reluctance about the lawsuit, stating, “I’m not doing this because I want to. I’m doing this because I feel I have an obligation to.”
The lawsuit targets the Des Moines Register for releasing Selzer’s survey results, which showed Vice President Harris ahead of Trump, a prediction that did not align with the actual election results in Iowa where Trump claimed victory. Lark-Marie Anton, a spokesperson for the Des Moines Register, defended the publication’s decision, noting that they had disclosed comprehensive details about the poll’s methodology and demographics, including both weighted and unweighted data. Anton emphasized the integrity of their reporting and maintained that the lawsuit was unfounded.
Gannett, when asked for a comment, referred back to the statement made by the Des Moines Register. Meanwhile, Selzer herself announced her retirement from election polling two weeks post-election, reflecting on her career’s final poll with a sense of irony in an op-ed for the Register, expressing her wish that her last poll could have matched the election results.
Trump’s legal action asserts that the poll by Selzer was not merely incorrect but alleges it was deliberately designed to influence the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election.