Chris Cuomo Casts Doubt on Polling Accuracy After Mocking Trump for Doing the Same
Public opinion polling is an inexact science.
After gathering and analyzing not just data but the right data, pollsters must evaluate the information in a way that follows strict methodology, if they value accuracy and self-accountability.
Polls can often be off, as many Americans learned in 2016 following President Donald Trump’s stunning upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump, to his credit, did not believe mainstream polling that year, which showed him lagging behind.
He stayed on the trail late, especially in Michigan.
Four years later, little has changed.
The president is privy to internal polling and also has the instincts to distrust mainstream pollsters, which can be used by the establishment media to suppress enthusiasm.
As in 2016, polls again show the president in a seemingly inescapable hole, this time behind presumptive Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden.
CNN host Chris Cuomo shares Trump’s doubts about polling, which is problematic for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s little brother.
[firefly_poll]
You see, not too long ago, the leftist TV host blasted the president for doubting the veracity of polls that purported to show him behind Biden.
Cuomo welcomed Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on his program, “Cuomo Prime Time,” last week for a conversation about the state’s handling of the coronavirus.
Naturally, the pair discussed the subject of Michigan’s role in Trump’s 2016 victory.
With regard to where the state sits in 2020, Cuomo told Whitmer, “Biden is up.”
“Michigan was huge for the president, Trump, in terms of winning, uh, has a large number of white working-class people that is supposed to be his stronghold,” Cuomo said.
“We’ve seen in the polls, you know, you’re too busy you’re not doing poll analysis, but he is losing those white voters,” he continued.
“Biden is gaining there most of all. And he now, Trump, has pulled the ads” from the state, Cuomo said.
Cuomo neglected to mention that the Trump campaign has temporally ended its current run of TV ads in Michigan, but will soon spend $11 million on a new ad campaign in the state, MLive reported.
“What do you think is going on with the pandemic politics in Michigan?” he added.
Whitmer said she feels Biden’s message, whatever that might be, is resonating with Michiganders, but added, “This is still going to be a competitive race. It is going to tighten up. And no one should be taking Michigan for granted.”
“See, I’m with you,” Cuomo told Whitmer.
“I don’t believe the polls,” he said.
“I’m trying to nip this in the bud,” says @GovWhitmer on Covid-19 in MI.
“If we want to have any shot of getting our kids back in schools safely in four weeks, our actions today are going to dictate whether or not that’s possible… that’s why we have to tighten things up now.” pic.twitter.com/QWmrq1PlSG
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) August 1, 2020
A poll from FiveThirtyEight released Wednesday shows Biden leading Trump in Michigan by double digits, 53 percent to 41 percent.
Cuomo’s statement left little to be interpreted.
He doesn’t believe that poll or other polls.
But the problem is that Cuomo very recently attacked Trump for stating the exact same thing.
After CNN released a poll in June that showed Biden leading Trump nationally 55 percent to 41 percent, the president reacted.
It would be an understatement to say Trump denounced the network’s poll and others:
CNN Polls are as Fake as their Reporting. Same numbers, and worse, against Crooked Hillary. The Dems would destroy America!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2020
…Crooked Hillary Clinton in 2016. They are called SUPPRESSION POLLS, and are put out to dampen enthusiasm. Despite 3 ½ years of phony Witch Hunts, we are winning, and will close it out on November 3rd! pic.twitter.com/4IhuLUZjsv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2020
But Cuomo, who suddenly told Whitmer he doesn’t “believe the polls,” was singing a very different tune when the president opposed one published by his network.
In fact, at the time, the CNN host had many not-so-nice things to say about Trump on the issue.
“The president’s campaign demanded that CNN retract and apologize for a recent poll because it showed him well behind presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Our network’s message is this: No. This is America. You don’t control what a free press says. That’s the free part,” Cuomo said on his program June 10.
“Can you believe that we have to have these conversations? Can you believe this?!” he said through laughter.
“Why am I laughing? Because I don’t want to cry on television, that’s why. I don’t want to cry. It is so sick and sad and obvious: Lie, deny, defy. Divide, divide, divide and conquer. That’s what this president is about. And it worked for him, it got him here. Will it keep him here? That’s up to you, OK?”
“Why am I laughing? Because I don’t want to cry,” says @chriscuomo on the Trump campaign demanding this network apologize for a poll that showed Joe Biden in the lead.
“It is so sick and sad and obvious. Lie, deny, defy…Divide and conquer. That’s what this President is about.” pic.twitter.com/aFscxYJYqj
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) June 11, 2020
Seven weeks later, the CNN talking head shredded any semblance of credibility by using five words when speaking to Whitmer.
“I don’t believe the polls,” he said.
Cuomo, of course, is entitled to have his dueling opinions.
But there is little doubt that rhetoric from the pundit is spouted only to oppose the president.
If Trump declared that the waters of Lake Michigan were wet, Cuomo would probably use his show to find a dry rock somewhere along its banks.
If the host is willing to admit on CNN that he questions the accuracy of polling mere weeks after the president shared a nearly identical opinion, how can he reconcile his other scathing criticisms of Trump?
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
