Former President Donald Trump has branded leading Iowa pollster Ann Selzer a “Trump hater” and described her weekend poll that had Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of him by three points as “suppression.”

The Republican candidate said the poll, which showed Harris leading in the Hawkeye State even though Trump won the last election, was intended to be “illegal” and claimed it was intended to swing the Republican vote on Election Day suppress.

The poll showed Harris leading Trump by 3 percent in Iowa, giving the Democrat much-needed momentum in the Midwest as the election comes to a close. The poll, conducted between Oct. 28 and Oct. 31, found that 47 percent of likely voters would choose the vice president if the election were held on the day they were polled, while 44 percent of voters said they would go for Trump.

Several of Selzer’s polls have been accurate in the past, with correct predictions in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 elections.

However, that didn’t stop Donald Trump from rejecting the numbers. He said on Truth Social over the weekend that the poll was conducted by “a Trump hater who called it completely wrong last time.” In 2020, Selzer predicted Trump would win Iowa by 48 percent to President Joe Biden’s 41 percent, with the final result coming in at 53.1 percent to 44.9 percent.

At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, Trump referenced the poll in his speech, saying: “This is called suppression. They’re oppressing, and it should actually be illegal.”

The Trump campaign reiterated those statements, releasing a memo that said: “On Saturday, Democratic leaders appeared to have received early access to an absurd outlier poll in Iowa conducted by The Des Moines Register.

“Not to be outdone, The New York Times came right on cue as another set of polling data was used to push a voter suppression narrative against President Trump’s supporters.

“Some in the media choose to amplify the madness in order to dampen and weaken the enthusiasm of voters. That didn’t work. Our voters are like President Trump: They fight.”

In a statement, Selzer responded to the backlash over the surprising numbers pointing to a possible Harris landslide, Selzer said Newsweek: “You see these types of comments in virtually every survey, including mine.” The Des Moines Register includes an explanation of methodology for each story they publish.

“It is the same methodology that was used to show that Trump won Iowa in the last elections in 2016 and 2020. It would not be in my best interest or that of my clients…”The Des Moines Register and Mediacom – to conjure up fake numbers.”

Newsweek contacted The Des Moines Register for a reply to the comments via email.

Other polls released over the weekend showed conflicting news, with Harris getting a boost in the Midwest last week at Sienna College.New York Times The Morning Consult poll had her ahead in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and in the final Morning Consult poll Trump posted solid numbers that put him ahead in Georgia and Arizona.

Do you have a story we should cover? Do you have questions about Kamala Harris and the 2024 election? Contact [email protected]