Donald Trump is being accused of having a “size fixation.”
The Republican presidential front-runner engaged in another media-directed Twitter war Friday, but not at Fox News — his favorite target. This time, Trump lined his sights on the left-leaning Politico.
He began with a few tentative volleys on Thursday.
.@politico, which is not read or respected by many, may be the most dishonest of the media outlets— and that is saying something.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2015
The failing @politico news outlet, which I hear is losing lots of money, is really dishonest! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2015
Hearing nothing back, on Friday he got to specifics with this tweet:
Dishonest @politico just called to say that none of the polls including Fox, NBC, CNN, Zogby, & Morning Consult matter. Serious haters.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2015
That got a response. Politico shot back:
.@realDonaldTrump: Your account of the phone call with a @politico reporter is false. Real story coming soon. https://t.co/usTycoK850 — POLITICO (@politico) September 25, 2015
And less than a half-hour later, Politico followed up with this:
.@realDonaldTrump Here’s the real story: http://t.co/FbKtrr7yXM
— POLITICO (@politico) September 25, 2015
Politico’s own description of events was included in the piece the outlet referred to above, headlined, “Donald Trump’s Size fixation.” It reads:
Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski cited recent Morning Consult and Zogby polls on an internal conference call on Monday. The campaign’s daily conference calls usually include the campaign’s political director Michael Glassner and its state directors.
After being asked about the Monday call in an email, Lewandowski called Politico at 2:39 p.m. on Friday to confirm that he had cited both polls on the conference call. He said that they were “one of many stories that were available” and cited in the campaign’s daily rundown of press clippings.
Informed that the Zogby poll is not considered highly reliable by many experts, Lewandowski responded, “I think John Zogby is a well-respected pollster.”
Data guru Nate Silver has referred to Zogby as “the worst pollster in the world.”
Lewandowski then cited several live-caller polls that show Trump winning nationally and in New Hampshire. Politico did not comment on the reliability of the other polls cited by Lewandowski.
“Mr. Trump is a clear and definitive frontrunner by a wide, wide margin,” he said.
After that call with Lewandowski, Trump tweeted an inaccurate accounting of the conversation, falsely stating first that POLITICO called the campaign and second that POLITICO commented on the reliability of polls other than Zogby and Morning Consult.
While other campaigns often seek to attract large crowds in an effort to build buzz and are acutely attuned to the portrayal of a crowd’s size, they rarely permit candidates themselves to evince such public concern with crowd size.
Trump got into a similar dispute with CNN earlier in the week when it reported that the real estate developer spoke to a half-empty ballroom in South Carolina.
Here’s Anderson Cooper’s report of that brouhaha.
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly suggested this week that Trump should lay off Twitter.
“The worst thing that ever happened to Donald Trump’s life was he learned how to tweet,” O’Reilly said. “That was the worst thing.”
He may have a point, but then what would we do for fun?
H/T: The Right Scoop
Related post:
Fox News’ O’Reilly warns Trump to stay away from Twitter; Trump fans go on the attack
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- ‘Act like a grownup’: Drunk driver sobs when she loses plea deal by coming 4 hours late to court - July 23, 2017
- ‘I would’ve fired her the day I met her’: Glenn Beck reveals more about Tomi Lahren mess - July 23, 2017
- Canadian thug beats 74-year-old cyclist bloody with a club in road rage fit– and they say US is more violent? - July 23, 2017
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
Comments are closed.