Trump Sues Iowa Pollster For ‘Brazen Election Interference’

Donald Trump sued prominent political analyst and pollster Ann Selzer, the Des Moines Register and its parent company Gannett Monday for “brazen election interference” and fraud after Selzer incorrectly predicted a swing-state win in Iowa for Vice President Kamala Harris just a day before the presidential election last month. Trump went on to win the state by 13 percentage points.

According to The Wrap, the suit was filed late Monday in Polk County, Iowa under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act and related provisions — just hours after Trump had publicly threatened legal action against Selzer for her false prediction as accusations of election interference mounted over the weekend.

The suit claims that Selzer and the Register showed “favor of now-defeated former Democrat candidate Kamala Harris through use of a leaked and manipulated Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted by Selzer and S&C and published by DMR and Gannett in the Des Moines Register on Nov. 2, 2024.

“Contrary to reality and defying credulity, defendants’ Harris Poll was published three days before Election Day and purported to show Harris leading President Trump in Iowa by three points; President Trump ultimately won Iowa by over thirteen points,” the lawsuit states, according to Fox News, which reviewed the documents.

Fox News Digital reports Trump is demanding actual damages upon trial of the case; statutory damages three times the actual damages suffered; an order enjoining defendants’ "ongoing deceptive and misleading acts and practices relating to the Harris Poll and compelling defendants to disclose all information upon which they relied to engage in the deceptive and misleading acts relating to the Harris Poll; attorneys’ fees and costs associated with the case; and any other relief as deemed just and proper by the court. 

The lawsuit Monday night comes just hours after the president-elect said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago that he planned to sue the Des Moines Register and Selzer. 

The lawsuit comes days after ABC News and its top anchor George Stephanopoulos reached a settlement with Trump in his defamation suit, resulting in the network paying the president-elect $15 million.