Trump Kicks Off 'Revenge Presidency' By Calling For 'Full Investigation' of Pollster Who Predicted Him Losing In Red State Days Before His Election Win
Donald Trump requested an investigation of a pollster who predicted his loss before his 2024 election win.
Nov. 18 2024, Published 11:41 a.m. ET
Donald Trump has furiously ordered a "full investigation" on a shocking forecast made by an Iowa pollster shortly before his November 5 election win.
The MAGA leader believes possible election fraud may have occurred after Ann Selzer of Selzer & Company conducted a survey showing Kamala Harris winning the predominantly red state with a 3% lead over Trump, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Trump picked Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Des Moines Register/Mediacom survey, taken just days before the election, found Harris leading with 47% support while Trump only had 44%.
Iowa, once a Democratic stronghold for Barack Obama, had shifted to the Republican column in the last two election cycles and was not expected to be a battleground state in the 2024 race.
Ann Selzer of Selzer & Company had accurately predicted election wins since 2008.
While Trump cruised to victory in Iowa's popular and electoral votes for the third straight election, he took to his social media website – Truth Social – to announce he would still be investigating Selzer for potential fraud.
He wrote: "A totally Fake poll that caused great distrust and uncertainty at a very critical time. She knew exactly what she was doing.
"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!"
At the time, Trump accused Selzer of over-sampling Democrats to create the illusion that Harris was ahead in Iowa.
He did, however, end up beating the Democratic candidate by over 13 points.
Selzer, "Iowa's Polling Queen" who has conducted Des Moines Register surveys for decades, had accurately predicted every presidential outcome since 2008.
She announced her retirement on Sunday after her latest results missed the mark by a wide margin, saying she was leaving The Register to focus on polling for other clients.
She said: "Over a year ago I advised the Register I would not renew when my 2024 contract expired with the latest election poll as I transition to other ventures and opportunities.
"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."
The president-elect took to Truth Social accusing Selzer of possible election fraud.
Selzer continued: "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."
She also admitted to her research being totally wrong after Trump's landslide win, adding: "I told more than one news outlet that the findings from this last poll could actually energize and activate Republican voters who thought they would likely coast to victory. Maybe that's what happened."
Trump claimed Selzer 'knew exactly what she was doing' when conducting the survery for this year's race.
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In an attempt to defend her strategy, Selzer said the poll findings produced for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom "did not match what the Iowa electorate ultimately decided in the voting booth today".
She also said there was nothing changed to the data taken, saying during a CNN appearance: "When former President Trump said we interviewed more Democrats, well that's what came out of our data.
"We did nothing to make that happen."
Selzer added: "I'm a big believer in keeping my fingers off, my dirty fingers off the data. So we did it the way, we did it when he won in our final poll twice, in two election cycles, very same method.
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