Trump Administration Demands CNN Retract And Apologize For ‘Stunt’ Poll Showing Joe Biden Ahead
U.S. President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign sent a cease and desist letter to CNN demanding that the news outlet apologize for and retract a poll that shows him lagging behind former vice president and presidential hopeful Joe Biden.
“It’s a stunt and a phony poll to cause voter suppression, stifle momentum and enthusiasm for the President,” the letter read. It called for not only a retraction, but for CNN to issue a “clarification” to correct the numbers.
The letter accused CNN of polling people who weren’t registered to vote or people who skewed liberal. It also argued that the poll was conducted before May’s jobs numbers were released, though CNN notes that the poll was, in fact, conducted on June 5 when the news was released.
The letter added that the poll asked unfair questions because it focused on race relations rather than job creation.
The campaign sent the message to CNN President Jeff Zucker and was quickly dismissed. CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic said that the network wouldn’t be apologizing for or retracting the poll, which was released on Monday.
“We stand by our poll,” he said.
Trump expressed upset at the poll on Monday, tweeting that he would hire a firm to analyze the data.
“I have retained highly respected pollster, McLaughlin & Associates, to analyze todays CNN Poll (and others), which I felt were FAKE based on the incredible enthusiasm we are receiving. Read analysis for yourself. This is the same thing they and others did when we defeated Crooked Hillary Clinton in 2016. They are called SUPPRESSION POLLS, and are put out to dampen enthusiasm. Despite 3 1/2 years of phony Witch Hunts, we are winning, and will close it out on November 3rd!” he wrote.
The poll showed Biden leading Trump by a whopping 14 points, with 55 percent of registered voters polled expressing support for Biden over 41 percent showing support for Trump.
The poll also indicated that Trump had an approval rating of a meager 38 percent, the lowest since January 2019. His disapproval rating came in at 57 percent. The numbers echo other polls by places including Fox News, NBC News, NPR News, Gallup, and ABC News. As CNN reports, the average of these polls shows Biden up by double digits.
Of the people who responded to the poll, 32 percent said they were Democrats, 25 percent said they were Republicans, and 44 percent called themselves independents or belonging to a third party. This is common, CNN notes, among polls at this point in the race.
Trump is known to push back against polls that reflect his support in a negative light.
