President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Monday he is considering legal action against a noted pollster who claimed that data showed he was far behind Vice President Kamala Harris in a traditionally red state heading into the final weeks of the election. Trump suggested that normally reputable Iowa pollster Ann Selzer, who published an outlier poll showing him losing to Harris in the state, was trying to unduly influence the election for the Democratic candidate.
“I’m doing this because I feel I have an obligation to. I’m going to be bringing one against, uh, the people in Iowa, their newspaper — which had a very, very good pollster who got me right all the time. And then just before the election, she said I was going to lose by 3 or 4 points, and it became the biggest story all over the world, because I was going to win Iowa by 20 points. The farmers loved me, and I love the farmers,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
“It was interesting the way she did it. She brought it down two weeks before. She said I was going to only win by four. That was a big story. But that was good because she brought it down from like 22 points to four or whatever,” Trump said. “The number was way up, way up — an easy win. We never even thought to go there. I respect them, I love them, and they understand there’s no reason to go there because she brought it from way up. Walk away, which it was, and it turned out to be in the election too, by the way. It was a win by many, many points.
“And then she brought it down very smartly to four a couple of weeks before, and everyone said, ‘Wow, that’s amazing. He’s only up by four points.’ Then she brought it down to where I was down by 3 or 4, whatever number she used. And that was the Des Moines Register, and it was their parent. And in my opinion, it was fraud and it was election interference. You know, she’s gotten me right always. She’s a very good pollster. She knew what she was doing, and she then quit before,” Trump said. “We’ll probably be filing a major lawsuit against them today or tomorrow.”
At the same press conference, Trump and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announced a $100 billion investment in the United States, which is intended to create 100,000 new jobs. After meeting with Son at Mar-a-Lago, Trump called the investment “a monumental demonstration of confidence in America’s future.”
“Masa runs one of the largest companies in Japan and among the most successful investment and technology companies anywhere in the world, one of the most successful investors in the world. And we’ve just concluded a very productive meeting,” Trump said. “And today, I’m thrilled to announce that SoftBank will be investing $100 billion in America, creating 100,000 American jobs at a minimum. And he’s doing this because he feels very optimistic about our country since the election.”
He added: “This historic investment is a monumental demonstration of confidence in America’s future. And it will help ensure that artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and other industries of tomorrow are built, created and grown right here in the USA.” Trump also said “we will not rest until America is richer, safer and stronger than it has ever been before.”
