Trump rages over ‘phony’ poll

President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at a new Washington Post–ABC News poll showing him trailing five Democratic presidential candidates, dismissing it as a “phony suppression poll.”

The president sent three tweets complaining about the poll just minutes before he was scheduled to participate in a moment of silence marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

{mosads}Trump blasted the Post and ABC as “one of the worst pollsters of them all.” He claimed the news outlets projected him to lose by “15 points” in 2016, though their final poll predicted Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would win by 4 percentage points.

The president also claimed he “hasn’t even started campaigning yet,” despite the fact that he’s held several rallies in recent months in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina and elsewhere and officially launched his reelection with a rally in Florida in June.

He cited Republican Dan Bishop’s victory a night earlier in a North Carolina special election as evidence that polls can be wrong after they showed the candidate trailing weeks ago.

“If it weren’t for the never ending Fake News about me, and with all that I have done (more than any other President in the first 2 1/2 years!), I would be leading the ‘Partners’ of the LameStream Media by 20 points. Sorry, but true!” Trump tweeted.

….This is a phony suppression poll, meant to build up their Democrat partners. I haven’t even started campaigning yet, and am constantly fighting Fake News like Russia, Russia, Russia. Look at North Carolina last night. Dan Bishop, down big in the Polls, WINS. Easier than 2016!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2019

If it weren’t for the never ending Fake News about me, and with all that I have done (more than any other President in the first 2 1/2 years!), I would be leading the “Partners” of the LameStream Media by 20 points. Sorry, but true!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2019

The president regularly blasts polls that do not show him performing well as fake or rigged. He tweeted similar complaints about a Washington Post–ABC News poll released a day earlier that showed his approval rating dropping.

Wednesday’s poll showed former Vice President Joe Biden leading Trump in a hypothetical matchup by 16 percentage points among adults surveyed. It also showed Trump trailing Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) by 12 points, 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) leads Trump by 6 percentage points, according to the poll.