Staff Reports
Donald Trump’s campaign had a not-so-friendly chat with Fox News recently, and it’s about their latest polling results that show Vice President Kamala Harris slightly ahead in key swing states. In a twist of irony, a campaign that rose to fame contemptuously ripping into anyone who suggested Trump’s standing was less than stellar found itself rattling the sabers against what it perceives to be the conservative icon’s own media network. Rolling out the old familiar battle cry, Trump’s team pledged a scathing reminder that Fox News is at it again with what they described as “atrocious polling.”
The comparison to a previous indignation cannot go unmentioned. In June, Trump had already taken aim at a “trash” poll from Fox that suggested President Biden had the advantage over him. So, it seems like the charting of Kamala Harris’ momentary lead in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada has rattled some serious cages. With a slender one-point advantage in Arizona and a two-point lead in Georgia and Nevada, Harris appears to be riding a wave of misplaced enthusiasm at the moment, while Trump clings to his own lead in North Carolina.
Trump campaign blasts Fox News for 'atrocious' polling of Harris leading in swing states https://t.co/UkG3Klivn9
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) August 29, 2024
The response from Trump’s camp has been enough to make anyone’s head spin. They insist that the former president is still performing better than where he stood in previous election cycles. Arizona? Ten points ahead of his 2020 performance, according to his supporters. Nevada? Eight points up. North Carolina? Five points ahead. Clearly, the Trump campaign is asserting that whatever light polling might suggest about Harris, the tide has not wholly turned against them.
Yet, this isn’t simply about Trump versus Harris. It’s also about the accuracy of polling methods employed by Fox News. Even in the 2020 election cycle, Trump’s campaign suggested that Fox’s polling metrics were off by nearly 10% in North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona. They also seemed to find the network’s single Georgia poll too generous in its estimate of Biden’s support, making it sound like Fox might need a new GPS to locate accurate polling numbers.
The poll in question, which queried 4,053 voters from August 23-26 across four battleground states, delivered a curious insight. While voters firmly believed Trump was the more qualified candidate for handling the economy, which happens to top their list of concerns, Ms. Harris was labeled the go-to figure for uniting the nation. It seems that voters managed to hold a more favorable view of Harris, at 49%, over Trump’s 47%. This data is music to the ears of Democrats and confusion to the base that once saw Fox News as a steadfast ally.
