Trump Sues the Des Moines Register Over Ann Selzer’s Massive Polling Whiff: ‘Brazen Election Interference’

Just hours after vowing to file lawsuits against several media organizations, President-elect Donald Trump has already made good on his threats against one of the outlets he named.

In a filing first reported by Fox News and Puck, the president-elect officially filed suit against the Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer for what his attorneys called an act of “brazen election interference.” The lawsuit — filed in Polk County, Iowa — claims Selzer and the Register “engaged in an ‘unfair act or practice’ because the publication and release of the Harris Poll ‘caused substantial, unavoidable injury to consumers that was not outweighed by any consumer or competitive benefits which the practice produced.’”

“[L]eft-wing pollsters have attempted to influence electoral outcomes through manipulated polls that have unacceptable error rates and are not grounded in widely accepted polling methodologies,” the lawsuit said.

It may be difficult for Trump to prove he suffered harm from the Selzer poll — which showed him trailing Vice President Kamala Harris in Iowa by 3 points, which

was within the poll’s margin of error. (Trump ultimately won the state by 13 points.) On its face, a poll showing such a close race prior to Election Day would only seem to motivate Trump voters to get out to the polls in greater numbers — given the outcome was very much in doubt.

In light of that, Trump’s lawyers will argue that the poll caused them to take resources earmarked for other states and devote them to Iowa.

“President Trump, the Trump 2024 Campaign, and other Republicans were forced to divert enormous campaign and financial resources to Iowa based on the deceptive Harris Poll,” the lawsuit said.

On Friday, Selzer blasted critics who accused her of having nefarious motives.

“I am mystified about what the motivation anybody thinks I had and would act on in such a public poll,” Selzer said. “I don’t understand it. And the allegations I take very seriously. They’re saying that this was election interference, which is a crime. So, the idea that I intentionally set up to deliver this response, when I’ve never done that before, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do it, it’s not my ethic.”

This lawsuit comes on the heels of Trump receiving $15 million from ABC to settle his defamation case against the network. He is also threatening lawsuits against CBS, Bob Woodward and others