Trump sues Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer for 'brazen election interference'

On the eve of the election, with polls pointing to a tight battle in which every vote was key, renowned pollster Ann Selzer of The Des Moines Register published a poll that blew forecasts out of the water and cast doubt on Donald Trump's chances of winning the presidency by giving a 3-point advantage to Kamala Harris in Iowa, where all the polls indicated a Republican victoy. Trump eventually prevailed in The Hawkeye State by 13 points, and he has since sued the publication and Selzer for what he considers "brazen election interference."

The publication of Selzer's poll created a notable stir precisely because it was her work. Selzer's polls were synonymous with precision, and many political analysts publicly showed their astonishment at this result, which seemed impossible, but the signature of its author breathed life into the chance of it being true. This poll represented a 7-point swing for the Democrats with respect to the poll from this same publication in September, and clashed with the projections of the rest of the pollsters.

'Contrary to reality and defying credulity'

For Trump, it was not a mistake, but "brazen electoral interference ... in favor of now-defeated former Democrat candidate Kamala Harris through use of a leaked and manipulated Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted by Selzer and S&C and published by DMR and Gannett in the Des Moines Register on Nov. 2, 2024."

"Contrary to reality and defying credulity, Defendants' Harris Poll was published three days before Election Day and purported to show Harris leading President Trump in Iowa by three points; President Trump ultimately won Iowa by more than thirteen points."

'Election-interfering fiction'

Trump's lawyers also pointed out that "deep-red Iowa was not reality, it was election-interfering fiction." For the president-elect's lawyers, Selzer is a repeat offender in this type of situation since the pollster had "prided herself on a mainstream reputation for accuracy despite several far less publicized egregious polling misses in favor of Democrats."

Trump's team also claims that the timing and erroneous polling choice are not coincidental: "[Selzer] would have the public believe it was merely a coincidence that one of the worst polling misses of her career came just days before the most consequential election in memory, was leaked and happened to go against the Republican candidate."

'A false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 presidential election'

As such, the lawsuit notes that "the Harris Poll was no ‘miss’ but rather an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election. ... defendants and their cohorts in the Democrat Party hoped that the Harris Poll would create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 Presidential Election."

However, if anything, the poll sparked a massive mobilization of Republicans, resulting in a victory in Iowa for the president-elect by 13 points. Selzer announced her retirement "in disgrace," in the words of the Trump team, just two weeks after the resounding failure.