Right-wing pollsters helping create the 'narrative of unstoppable momentum' for Trump

31 October 2024

Countless national and battleground state polls are showing the United States' 2024 presidential race to be incredibly tight, and many pollsters consider the race a toss-up or a "coin flip."

Yet right-wing media outlets are painting Donald Trump as the presidential candidate with the momentum, and they typically point to GOP-associated pollsters to make their case. American Greatness, Quantus, Trafalgar and Rasmussen are among the right-wing pollsters who have been providing Trump-friendly polls.

In a New York Times article published on October 31, reporters Ken Bensinger and Kaleigh Rogers describe the way right-wing pollsters are helping create the impression of Republican nominee Trump as having stronger momentum than Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

"The torrent of polls began arriving just a few weeks ago, one after the other, most showing a victory for Donald J. Trump," Bensinger and Rogers explain. "They stood out amid the hundreds of others indicating a dead heat in the presidential election. But they had something in common: They were commissioned by right-leaning groups with a vested interest in promoting Republican strength. These surveys have had marginal, if any, impact on polling averages, which either do not include the partisan polls or give them little weight."

The reporters continued, "Yet some argue that the real purpose of partisan polls, along with other expectation-setting metrics such as political betting markets, is directed at a different goal entirely: building a narrative of unstoppable momentum for Mr. Trump."

These "partisan polls," according to Bensinger and Rogers, "appear focused on lifting Republican enthusiasm before the election and — perhaps more important — cementing the idea that the only way Mr. Trump can lose to Vice President Kamala Harris is if the election is rigged."

Joshua Dyck, director of the Center for Public Opinion at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, told the Times, "Republicans are clearly strategically putting polling into the information environment to try to create perceptions that Trump is stronger. Their incentive is not necessarily to get the answer right."

Read the New York Times' full article at this link (subscription required).

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