Editorials & Other Articles

Trump could deal with the failures that have made him so unpopular.

But he apparently finds it easier to call for investigations into "criminal" pollsters — rhetoric that's become difficult to simply shrug off.

For his part, Trump has seen the shift in public attitudes, and he’s ready to reassess the direction of his failing presidency.

No, I’m just kidding. He’s actually lashing out at pollsters in new and ridiculous ways. Newsweek noted:

President Donald Trump has said pollsters that have shown his approval ratings sliding in recent weeks should be investigated for “election fraud.” Trump cited recent polls from The New York Times, ABC News/The Washington Post, and Fox News, which put his approval rating on 42 percent, 39 percent, and 44 percent respectively.

As this week got underway, Trump, shortly before sunrise, published an item to his social media platform that read, “We don’t have a Free and Fair ‘Press’ in this Country anymore. We have a Press that writes BAD STORIES, and CHEATS, BIG, ON POLLS. IT IS COMPROMISED AND CORRUPT. SAD!”

That came shortly on the heels of a related item, in which he lashed out at “FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.” The president added, “These people should be investigated for ELECTION FRAUD, and add in the FoxNews Pollster while you’re at it.”.....

The hysterics were not altogether surprising. Trump did, after all, sue The Des Moines Register for publishing the results of a poll he didn’t like. So it stands to reason that he’d freak out in response to an avalanche of survey data showing his fading popularity.

But to the extent that reality has any bearing on this discussion, there are a few things to keep in mind here. The first is that there is no conspiracy: Polls show Trump struggling because Trump is failing and much of the public has noticed.

Second, the basis of the president’s weird conspiracy theory is absurd on its face: Pollsters can’t be engaged in “election interference” when there is no election, and the politician in question can’t run for re-election. (Even if there were an election, of course, there’s nothing improper about releasing public opinion research that one party doesn’t like.)

Third, and most importantly, some might feel the temptation to simply shrug off Trump’s call for an investigation into “criminal” polling, but given recent events, that seems inherently risky. This president has already a demonstrated a willingness to direct the Justice Department to go after his perceived foes, and there’s no reason to assume he’ll abandon these authoritarian-style tactics anytime soon.