US president-elect Donald Trump has sued a pollster and newspaper over a pre-election survey that vastly underestimated his support, a move decried by rights groups as part of a larger anti-press effort by him.
Trump’s lawsuit was filed on Monday evening in the central US state of Iowa, naming the pollster Ann Selzer, the Des Moines Register newspaper and its parent company Gannett as defendants.
The suit revolves around a poll conducted by Selzer that showed Trump trailing Democratic nominee Kamala Harris by three points in the state.
Photo: Reuters
The poll — published days before the Nov. 5 election — was a shock given Trump’s easy victories there in 2016 and 2020, and boosted Democratic hopes that other surveys showing an exceedingly tight race were overestimating the Republican’s support.
Trump went on to win Iowa by 13 points, dealing a blow to Selzer’s reputation.
In his lawsuit, Trump accuses Selzer and codefendants of “brazen election interference,” and seeks unspecified damages under Iowa’s “unfair practices” law.
The poll was “just a piece of political theater concocted by an individual — Selzer,” the suit alleges, saying she “should have known better than to poison the electorate with a poll that was nothing more than a work of fantasy.”
When contacted on Tuesday, Selzer’s office declined to comment.
Des Moines Register spokeswoman Lark-Marie Anton said the lawsuit was “without merit.”
The newspaper already acknowledged the poll “did not reflect the ultimate margin of President Trump’s election day victory in Iowa,” Anton said.
She said they had previously released weighted and unweighted data behind the poll, among other information, and that Selzer had published a “technical explanation.”
“We stand by our reporting on the matter,” Anton said.
The Knight First Amendment Institute, a group at Columbia University dedicated to promoting free speech rights, slammed the lawsuit as “part of a larger effort by president-elect Trump to prevent the press from reporting on issues of vital public interest.”
“The court should dismiss it quickly,” Knight Institute staff attorney Anna Diakun said.
Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, similarly wrote on his blog that he did not “expect this lawsuit to go anywhere.”
The Iowa lawsuit comes just days after ABC News settled claims by Trump of defamation, in which the outlet agreed to pay US$15 million to a future presidential museum and foundation, and an additional US$1 million for Trump’s legal fees.
Trump has made attacks on the media a hallmark of his political identity since his rise to power, recently describing the press as “bloodsuckers” and “corrupt.”
On Monday, he said he planned to launch more proceedings against media outlets, including CBS News’ 60 Minutes, which he accused of manipulating an interview with Harris to support her candidacy.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so