https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/17/trump-ann-selzer-lawsuit-iowa-poll-00194807 President-elect Donald Trump is suing retired Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer over her pre-election survey that showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading in the state, calling it “brazen election interference.” The shock poll, which drew national attention given Selzer’s record of success in Iowa, proved incorrect: Trump won the state by more than 13 points. But that has not stopped the president-elect from claiming the poll was intended to manipulate the results of the election.
Well, I think it's true that campaigns use inaccurate or juiced polls to advance a narrative that their candidate is popular or inevitable. Trump is as guilty of this as anyone. He'll even lie about his crowd sizes to advance that narrative. But the accuracy of public polls has become problematic in this regard over the last few cycles, and to Trump's disadvantage. My solution has been to stop paying them any mind but plenty of people still put their confidence in them and it probably has some effect on electoral decisions. I don't think a lawsuit solves the problem, but I'm not all that sorry about it either.
Most reactions I have seen have been people up in arms about this and just assuming Trumps claims lack any merit. My response to that is... well... maybe Ann Selzer did consciously put her thumb on the scale in an attempt to swing the election... it's not impossible and the degree to which her poll was wrong was pretty breathtaking... left wing media certainly made a ton of hay out of it and believed it was useful to promote Kamala's campaign and I'm not hearing any plausible explanations as to why her methodology went from extremely accurate to gargantuan miss.
The Reality . .. This type of thing happens all the time Look at all the inputs people have now News/Social media/polls/music/etc All of them are manipulated to manipulate and the Ultra Rich do it more than anyone else Rocket River
Wouldn't the challenge here be to prove causality between a (potentially manipulated) poll and people's actual voting behaviour? And where are the damages? He won the state, no?
Trump tries to sue anybody who doesn't paint a picture of him on a golden throne. It won't surprise me if he starts going after TV networks, social media networks, newspapers, and reporters as President. The sickening thing about that is when he and Elon, along with his preferred right wing MAGA networks post and share all kinds of misinformation, defamation, and flat out lies and conspiracy theories. It's a double standard. Just as sickening is his pick of election denying liar and butt kissing loyalist Kari Lake as his choice for Voice of America. American propaganda with Trump as the King will certainly be anything but truth news. Control the media, control the minds with what you want them to believe, and stop anyone else from speaking the true facts you want to hide - Trump in a nutshell. It's no wonder he appointed so many of his personal lawyers to do his dirty work as appointees, and cover his crooked ass.
He also believes he won the 2020 election. Maybe Biden should sue his ass for unsubstantiated lies of him rigging that election.
Its funny that Trump's usual critics (like me) are giving him some credit on this one and his usual defenders are the ones showing reservations. I think your points are valid and this is a specious lawsuit for the reasons you refer to. But, our public polling industry has a problem that shades into downright misinformation. If they're going to be consistently wrong, maybe they should stop publishing their results. And I get the feeling (but obviously can't show) that proprietary polling is more accurate. For example, Elon Musk probably saw some good data before he staked his reputation on Trump.
Biden doesn't have the financial resources to tangle with Trump in the courts. Unless Joe, Hunter and Jim got more kickbacks from foreign companies then we all thought.
I'm sure it's hard for anyone to fight Trump in the courts with his team of loyalists and lawyers he rewards with loyalty favors in high positions. There will be millions funneling his way from billionaires courting him and the under the table money from bribes he funnels through Mar a Lago, and all his properties overseas, his 100's of LLCs, offshore accounts, and now the Trump family crypto business. Everyone knows he's a fraud and crook, and this gig is all about making himself richer, which in turn makes his minions and loyalists richer. Greed fuels guys like Trump and his billionaire buddies. They can never get enough money to satisfy their thirst.
I believe the greater problem is that certain entities are place (incorrectly) in a position of authority. Pollsters and media are prime examples. When these entities behave in fraudulent manner, it becomes a problem. It's certain not black and white, but some accountability needs to happen either on the entity directly or the perception of being place in authority.
After giving it a few seconds of thought, The Convicted Felon posits that ... the government knows where drones originated ... and ... Biden knows more about reported drone sightings than he's saying* * The Convicted Felon and Biden get the same g*dd*mn daily intel briefs.
It’s his turn to sue the pants off of you woke clowns. An eye for an eye. The chicken is coming home to roost.
