The last-minute polls in Iowa appear to have rattled Donald Trump, who was initially projected to win the deep-red Hawkeye State.
The Republican presidential candidate decried unfavorable numbers for his campaign released Saturday and accused pollster Ann Selzer, considered highly accurate with last-minute polls in Iowa, of being a “Trump hater.”
“No president has done more for FARMERS and the great state of Iowa than Donald J. Trump. In fact, it's not even close! All the polls, except one heavily skewed to the Democrats by a Trump hater who called it completely wrong last time, have me WAY positive,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday. “I LOVE THE FARMERS, AND THEY LOVE ME.”
Trump's online tirade comes after the nationally respected poll The Des Moines Register/Mediacom reported that Kamala Harris led the former president 47 percent to 44 percent.
His campaign also released his own resignation Des Moines poll, which they called a “bluff” shortly after publication. Instead, they pointed to the Emerson College polls, released the same day, that gave the former president a 10-point advantage.
“The Des Moines Register is a clear outlier poll. “Emerson College, released today, “far better reflects the state of the actual Iowa electorate and does so with much more transparency in their methodology,” according to a campaign statement Sunday evening.
Others in Trump's camp shared similar criticism of Selzer's poll, with senior Trump adviser Jason Miller reportedly calling it a “crazy study,” and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk claiming the data was “fake” and a “media-designed tactic.” to suppress turnout.”
If Kamala was really competitive at Iowa, why hasn't Tim Walz visited, let alone Kamala? Walz is the governor next door. If there was any hope of him camping there.
She hasn't spent any money in Iowa because she will lose a lot there.
This survey is fake. This is a…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 3, 2024
Selzer dismissed her naysayers and Trump in particular, telling Newsweek: “You see comments like this in virtually every poll, including mine. The Des Moines Register includes a methodology statement with every story they publish. It is the same methodology used to show Trump winning Iowa in the final polls of 2016 and 2020. It would not be in my interest, nor that of my clients – The Des Moines Register and Mediacom – to use false to conjure up numbers.”
In 2016, Trump won Iowa by 9 points, and then by 8 points in the 2020 election. But despite the former president's positive record of winning the state, election betting odds are for the Republican candidate has fallen since the shocking polls.
If Harris were to turn Iowa blue, she would be the first Democratic nominee to do so since 2012.
