Trump campaign cutting ties with pollsters after leak: report

President Trump’s reelection campaign has reportedly severed ties with some of its pollsters after leaked internal polling showed him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in hypothetical match-ups. 

NBC News, citing an unidentified source close to the campaign, reported on the development Sunday, noting that the move came after it obtained details about a March internal poll that indicated Biden was leading Trump in several key states. The source did not provide details on which pollsters were let go. 

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

News about the Trump campaign’s internal polling surfaced in news reports last week, leading the president to push back against the findings in a series of tweets.  

“The Fake (Corrupt) News Media said they had a leak into polling done by my campaign which, by the way and despite the phony and never ending Witch Hunt, are the best numbers WE have ever had,” he tweeted. “They reported Fake numbers that they made up & don’t even exist. WE WILL WIN AGAIN!” 

But NBC News noted that a separate source familiar with the inner workings of the Trump reelection campaign shared more details regarding its polling. The data reportedly showed that Trump is underperforming in reliably red states. In addition, the polls showed that Trump is trailing in swing states that are viewed as crucial to him winning reelection. 

That source told the news network that the campaign tested multiple Democratic candidates against Trump and that Biden polled the best out of the group. Trump reportedly trails Biden by double digits in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan. 

Biden’s lead in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida sits outside the margin of error, according to NBC News. The news network added that Trump leads Biden by just 2 points in Texas, a state where a Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t won since 1976. 

The New York Times and ABC News first reported details about the Trump campaign’s internal polling earlier this month. Trump dismissed the reports while speaking in the Oval Office last week, saying that he’s had “great internal polling,” NBC News noted. 

The internal polling NBC News obtained details about was conducted between March 13 and March 28. 

Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s campaign pollster, told the news network that the survey was “incomplete and misleading.” 

“These leaked numbers are ancient, in campaign terms, from months-old polling that began in March before two major events had occurred: the release of the summary of the Mueller report exonerating the President, and the beginning of the Democrat candidates defining themselves with their far-left policy message,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale told NBC News before noting that Trump has seen huge swings in his favor “based on the policies espoused by the Democrats.”