President Donald Trump dismissed current polling as "rigged" during an impromptu press gaggle, accusing pollsters of manipulating numbers to either discourage or overconfident voters.
In some cases they have me leading by so much that people are going to vote, and in some cases they have me losing."
ABC and Washington Post cited as example
The President pointed to a specific poll from ABC and The Washington Post that showed him losing by 17 points. "ABC fake news right," Trump said. "ABC is probably the worst of the networks, and they had me losing by seventeen or so."
He described a conversation with pollster John McLaughlin about the strategy behind such numbers. "I said let me ask you when they do a poll that was ABC Washington Post, two real figures, and so what's the purpose of saying I'm going to lose by so much?" Trump recounted. "He said well if they said you can lose by three or four points people vote. If they say you lose by seventeen nobody goes out to vote so they're going to discourage people from vote."
Polls ignore enthusiasm, Trump says
Trump contrasted the polls with the size of his rallies. "When I go out and I get a crowd of fifty five thousand people, and Kamala goes out and gets eight hundred people if she's lucky, and then they say oh Kamala's going to do wonderful," he said.
The President noted that despite the polling, he won the previous election. "They had me losing by seventeen points and I won by a lot. I won in a landslide. I don't forget I won all seven swing states. They said I was going to win two," Trump stated.
The exchange came as polling across the country shows a mixed picture, which Trump says is intentional. "They do it both ways," he said, explaining that inflated leads can suppress turnout among his supporters who think the race is already decided.
