Trump and Election Deniers Call Republican Polls “Fake” as Midterm Numbers Worsen

Election deniers are trying to take control of the narrative. At the urging of President Donald Trump, they are dismissing the Republican Party’s poor poll numbers as fake, psychological operations, or a strategy designed to discourage Republicans from voting in November.

Kevin Roberts, chairman of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, told Fox News that the midterm election polls were a “psychological operation to reduce conservative voter turnout.”

“The midterm elections are coming,” election denier and MAGA commentator Philip Buchanan, known online as Catturd, wrote to his 4 million followers on X. “A laughably fake poll is being rolled out.”

Election denial has become central to the Republican Party

For more than a decade, President Trump has claimed, without evidence, that American elections were affected by fraud. After Biden’s loss in 2020, an online community and ecosystem of election-denial groups emerged to promote baseless claims that former President Joe Biden stole the election from Trump.

Those claims have become central to the Republican Party’s belief system. Hundreds of Republican candidates in November’s federal and statewide elections have expressed doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections.

Polls show Trump’s approval rating at a historic low

Multiple opinion polls now show President Trump’s approval rating at a historic low, while the Democratic Party is leading in the Senate race nationwide and in states Trump easily won in 2024.

Reuters reported this week that Republicans are funneling money into dozens of races they previously considered safe.

Trump repeatedly attacks “fake” polls

President Trump has denounced polls as fake at least 39 times since returning to the White House last year, according to a Media Matters analysis, including nine times in August alone.

In a post last month, Trump claimed that the polls were a “demoralization operation” created by Democrats to keep Republicans from voting. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump repeated the claim. When asked about the negative polling in Iowa, he said, “The polls are fake.”

Trump aides reportedly fear a Republican defeat

The White House did not respond to requests for comment. However, as WIRED reported this week, Trump’s aides are extremely concerned about the polls and the possibility of losing both houses of Congress. “Oh yeah, we’re going to be in trouble,” one longtime Trumpworld operative told WIRED.

While the White House is reportedly concerned, election deniers continue to repeat President Trump’s claims that unfavorable polls are fake.