US President-elect Donald Trump delivers a speech at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, USA on December 16, 2024.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump late Monday sued Ann Seltzer, her polling company The Des Moines Register and the newspaper’s parent company, the Des Moines Register, according to a copy of the document reviewed by NBC News. Nite, accusing them of defrauding consumers.
The lawsuit, filed in Polk County, Iowa, says it seeks “blatant election interference” from a Nov. 2 poll that showed Kamala Harris’ support in Iowa The rate increased by 3 percentage points. Trump made the claim under Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act, which bans deceptive advertising.
Trump ultimately won the state by double digits, a disparity that his lawyers argued in the lawsuit constituted a “fiction that interfered with the election.”
“I did it because I felt I had an obligation to the people of Iowa, and their newspaper had a very, very good pollster who kept getting me right, and then right before the election, she said I would Lost by three to four percentage points,” Trump said Monday when discussing the lawsuit.
Selzer announced after the election she will stop voting Competing politically and entering other careers.
The lawsuit alleges that “millions of Americans, including Plaintiffs, Iowa residents and Iowans who contributed to the Trump Presidential campaign and its affiliated entities (the “Trump 2024 Campaign”) were Deceived by the Doctored Harris Poll,” and the “Miss Poll” wasn’t a stunning coincidence—it was intentional.”
It attacks Selzer’s reputation as a standard pollster, accusing her of trying to sway political campaigns in favor of Democrats.