Trump’s Own Polling Data Shows He’s in Deep Trouble. Here’s How He Reportedly Tried to Bury It.

That’s one way to deal with “devastating” numbers.

Ron Sachs/ZUMA

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

President Donald Trump has long relied on parroting Fox News and cherry-picked, often misleading data in order to portray confidence ahead of the 2020 election. The president has also, without evidence, repeatedly claimed that if it had not been for the special counsel’s Russia investigation, his favorability ratings would be much higher.

But Trump’s fraught relationship with the truth about his popularity has now reportedly moved onto bizarre efforts to bury the results of his own campaign’s polling data. 

According to the New York Times, Trump was recently presented with the results of a 17-state internal poll that showed Biden leading in several key states. Afterward, the president reportedly ordered his staff to publicly deny that such data existed. When the internal numbers eventually leaked, the Times says he went one step further, ordering his staff to push friendlier data that ignored the “devastating” results presented by his own pollster. 

Campaign officials have since denied that they were told to lie about the data, which mirrors other recent polls showing Trump trailing Biden.

The alleged scrambled attempt to conceal his own polling data comes as Trump and Biden are both set to appear in Iowa on Tuesday, the first time the two men will campaign in the same state on the same day this election season. Biden is expected to label Trump as an “existential threat” to the country.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate