WASHINGTON — The Des Moines Register headline read: “Iowa Poll: Kamala Harris leapfrogs Donald Trump to take lead near Election Day. Here’s how.” The poll ran three days before the 2024 election and gave Harris a three-point edge after tapping some 800 likely Iowa voters.

But then reality intruded. On Election Day, instead of the poll’s expected 47-44 race that favored Harris, Trump garnered 56 percent of the Iowa vote, and Harris lost with 42.7 percent. The Iowa Poll was double-digit wrong.
As part of his revenge tour, Trump filed a lawsuit Monday against pollster J. Ann Selzer, the Des Moines Register, and parent company Gannett that charged the poll was not a miss “but rather an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election.” (RELATED: Donald J. Trump v. The Media)
The New York Times sees the lawsuit as a threat of “retaliation” against mainstream media. I don’t think a president should sue newspapers that cover him because there’s this little thing called the First Amendment, but there is no denying the botched Iowa Poll made a juicy target for Team Trump.
Selzer and company should have seen the red lights flashing in the Hawkeye State.
Hello. Iowa is a red state.
Gov. Kim Reynolds is a Republican. Both U.S. Senators — Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst — and all four House members are Republicans. The state’s House and Senate are controlled by Republicans.
Trump won Iowa handily in 2016 and 2020.
Previous 2024 Iowa Polls showed Trump beating both President Joe Biden and Harris.
Trump’s lawyers are engaging in an unusual legal approach: They’re citing the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, which says “a person shall not engage in a practice or act the person knows or reasonably should know is an unfair practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, or false promise,” or misrepresentation of material facts.
The thing is, Trump doesn’t have to win in court for this maneuver to pay off.
This is conservative lawfare — that shines a harsh light on the warning sign...