President Donald Trump called for criminal charges to be filed against pollsters who find results he doesn't like after a new survey found his reputation spinning into freefall.
The New York Times released polling data Thursday showing fewer than one-third of voters believe the country is better off since Trump's return to office a year ago, while majorities disapprove of his handling of the economy, immigration and other issues, and 57 percent believe he's prioritizing the wrong issues.
The 79-year-old president fumed across two lengthy social media posts.
"Something has to be done about Fake Polls! They are truly OUT OF CONTROL," Trump complained Thursday afternoon on his Truth Social website. "We have the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country, we have the Strongest Border in History, nobody has ever done a job like I have done, and they have me in the low 40s."
"The Democrats destroyed Healthcare, I’m trying to fix it, and they give me FAKE low numbers," he continued. "Fake Polls on the Economy, on the Border, on just about everything, are ridiculous and dangerous. The REAL Polls have been GREAT, but they refuse to print them. This is no different than a writer who is corrupt, of which there are many. The New York Times, and so many others, print Polls that are knowingly false."
"They have become deranged, and sick," Trump added. "They suffer from a major case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (TDS). Their 2024 Election coverage was so bad, and so wrong, and yet they never get called out for it — But I am calling them out with the lawsuit that I have filed which is making its way through the Courts. They have to pay a price for FAKE AND FRAUDULENT NEWS and, hopefully, in the not too distant future, they will!"
Trump then clarified that the price pollsters should pay for negative results against him should be criminal prosecution.
"Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense," the president raged. "As an example, all of the Anti Trump Media that covered me during the 2020 Election showed Polls that were knowingly wrong. They knew what they were doing, trying to influence the Election, but I won in a Landslide, including winning the Popular Vote, all 7 of the 7 Swing States, the Electoral College was a route, and 2,750 Counties to 525."
"You can’t do much better than that, and yet if people examined The Failing New York Times, ABC Fake News, NBC Fake News, CBS Fake News, Low Ratings CNN, or the now defunct MSDNC, Polls were all fraudulent, and bore nothing even close to the final results," he continued. "Something has to be done about Fraudulent Polling. Even the Polls of FoxNews and The Wall Street Journal have been, over the years, terrible!"
"There are great Pollsters that called the Election right, but the Media does not want to use them in any way, shape, or form," Trump added. "Isn’t it sad what has happened to American Journalism, but I am going to do everything possible to keep this Polling SCAM from moving forward!"