Trump claims that any negative polls are "fake news"
President Trump suggested Monday morning that any polls that signal public disapproval of him, his administration or his policies should be considered “fake news.”
The president seemed to suggest on Twitter that surveys measuring the public’s opinion of his executive order that instituted the travel ban and called for extreme vetting are not accurate.
He compared any “negative” polls to the surveys released during the run-up the presidential election, which had predicted that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was leading in the race.
Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2017
Mr. Trump then tweeted a few minutes later, saying that he calls his “own shots.”
I call my own shots, largely based on an accumulation of data, and everyone knows it. Some FAKE NEWS media, in order to marginalize, lies!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2017
This comes as the White House wrestles with a legal battle over the travel ban after a Seattle judge’s ruling Friday put a temporary hold on the policy across the country. A San Francisco-based appeals court has already turned down the Justice Department’s request to set aside the hold.
A CBS News poll released Friday found a majority, 51 percent, disapproves of the ban and 45 percent approves it.