Tag: pollsters

Trump Hires Incompetent Pollster to Critique CNN Poll

Buck Banks

14 points

After a new CNN poll came out showing Donald Trump trailing Joe Biden by 14 percentage points, the president announced he has retained Republican pollster John McLaughlin to write a memo denouncing the poll. However, Jonathan Chait points out McLaughlin is “a laughingstock within the profession.” McLaughlin has a FiveThirtyEight pollster rating of C/D and is one of the lowest-rated polls in their database.

It’s Too Early to Count ‘Likely Voters’

Buck Banks

A tip: There is no such thing as a likely voter six months before a general election, and if you think there is one, you’re likely cooking the books. Our rule is to always begin introducing likely voter models after Labor Day.

— NBC’s First Read, criticizing news organizations and pollsters that use “likely voter” models “to describe an election environment before Memorial Day when many Americans haven’t even begun to tune in to the general election.”