God-damned, fucking Trump! This is one of the steps to autocracy. State-run media. The c9urt should immediately strike this down and command a hefty fine to Trump for filing a frivolous lawsuit. Trump must pay the fine from his own personal pocket!

Trump files suit against Iowa pollster Ann Selzer and Des Moines Register newspaper

Dec. 17, 2024, 9:26 AM EST / Updated Dec. 17, 2024, 10:15 AM EST By Katherine Doyle

  • Trump’s Lawsuit: Donald Trump is suing Ann Selzer, her polling firm, The Des Moines Register, and Gannett for consumer fraud, claiming election interference due to a poll showing Kamala Harris ahead in Iowa.
  • Poll Discrepancy: The poll indicated Harris was leading by 3 points, but Trump won Iowa by 13 points. Trump’s lawyers argue this discrepancy was intentional.
  • Legal Perspective: Media law experts doubt the lawsuit’s success, suggesting it aims to intimidate the press rather than win in court.
  • Recent Legal Victory: Trump recently secured a $15 million payout from ABC News in a defamation case.

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is suing Ann Selzer, her polling firm, The Des Moines Register and the newspaper’s parent company, Gannett, accusing them of consumer fraud, according to a copy of the filing reviewed by NBC News.

The suit, filed Monday night in Polk County, Iowa, says it seeks “accountability for brazen election interference” over a Nov. 2 poll that showed Kamala Harris up 3 percentage points in Iowa.

Trump ultimately won the state by double digits, a difference that his lawyers argue in the suit constitutes “election-interfering fiction.” The president-elect is making the claim under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, which prohibits deceptive advertising.

“I’m doing this because I feel I have an obligation to. I’m going to be bringing one against the people in Iowa, their newspaper, which had a very, very good pollster who got me right all the time, and then just before the election, she said I was going to lose by 3 or 4 points,” Trump said in discussing the suit on Monday.

Selzer announced after the election that she would stop polling political contests and move into other ventures.

Media law experts were skeptical the suit could have much success.

“The odds of success here are slim to none, but winning in court is not likely the real goal of this lawsuit. The true motivation is to intimidate the press and journalists. I unfortunately suspect this lawsuit is just a harbinger of things to come.” – Clay Calvert, a media law expert, professor at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law.”

The suit states that “Millions of Americans, including Plaintiff, residents of Iowa, and Iowans who contributed to President Trump’s Campaign and its affiliated entities (the “Trump 2024 Campaign”), were deceived by the doctored Harris Poll” and that the “polling ‘miss’ was not an astonishing coincidence — it was intentional.”

It attacks Selzer’s reputation as a standard-bearing pollster, alleging that the polling miss showing Harris with a lead in Iowa that never materialized was intended to sway the race. The suit argues a pattern by Selzer of attempting to influence political races in favor of Democrats and that her large platform offers “a significant and impactful opportunity to deceive voters.”

The suit is the latest front in Trump’s campaign against coverage by the media and analysts that he perceives as biased.

Trump secured a $15 million payout from ABC News1, plus the payment of his lawyer’s fees, totaling $1 million, in a defamation case over the weekend.

Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UCLA School of Law, immediately dismissed the lawsuit.

“I don’t expect this lawsuit to go anywhere,” he wrote on his blog.

  1. @RalphHightower: ABC News should have defended themselves instead of rolling over. ↩