Topic: Newsmax
John and Jim McLaughlin are the pollsters for Donald Trump's presidential campaingn, and the things he does for Newsmax pretty closely reflect that (even if that connection to the Trump campaign is rarely disclosed). On Aug. 29, after the first Republican presidential debate -- which Trump avoided in favor of an interview with Tucker Carlson -- the McLaughlins had a raft of pro-Trump polling to peddle:
- McLaughlin Poll: Trump Beats Biden in Electoral Landslide
- McLaughlin Poll: Trump Beats DeSantis with 72 Percent of GOP Vote
- McLaughlin Poll: Majority Say Biden Targeting Trump, Politics Behind Indictments
After the second Republican debate, the McLaughlins served up more pro-Trump propaganda in an Oct. 2 column:
Donald Trump is crushing the Republican primary field and he’s beating his political persecutor, Joe Biden.
Our recent national poll was completed right before the second Republican debate.
This national poll of 1,000 likely voters (+/-3.1% at the 95% confidence interval), was completed between Sept. 22 and 26.
[...]
In the general election among all voters, in spite of four indictments in five months, President Trump beats Joe Biden 47% to 43% with 10% undecided.
Trump wins among Republicans 87% to 10%; takes 12% of Democrats to Biden’s 79% and wins independents 41% to 39%.
Trump also exceeds his 2020 share of the minority vote receiving 13% among African Americans and 40% among Hispanics.
Of course, the fact that the McLaughlins are on Trump's payroll means these results should be seen has biased and less than reliable. They ended with more pro-Trump rah-rah:
As national Republican leaders, and former presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Scott Walker have said the primary is over. Trump has won.
It’s really time to end the RNC debates which are nothing more than anti-Trump infomercials that help Joe Biden.
It’s time to focus on beating Joe Biden and ending his reign of failure and corruption before Joe Biden puts his leading Republican opponent in jail — which will end the reason for the opposition Republican Party to exist.
The McLaughlins served up more slanted pro-Trump polling in an Oct. 30 column:
Since our last national poll, Donald Trump has gone to Iowa, New Hampshire and to court. The most attention Joe Biden received was when he flew back and forth to Israel, where he may be talking tough, while appeasing Hamas and Iran.
The result – President Trump destroys the Republican primary field and widens his lead over Joe Biden.
This national poll of 1,000 likely voters (+/-3.1% at the 95% confidence interval), was completed between October 19th and 25th.
The McLaughlins took shots at Ron DeSantis:
In a two-way ballot between President Trump and Ron DeSantis, Trump leads 73% to DeSantis 27%. No undecided.
Most distressing for Ron DeSantis is the serious rise of his negative ratings. In January, among all voters, DeSantis had a favorable to unfavorable rating of 40% favorable to 39% unfavorable. Now DeSantis’ favorable rating among all voters has declined to 34% while his unfavorable rating rose to 51%. This is a big net decrease, -18%.
Among Republican primary voters his favorable rating is only 57%, with a significant share being negative, 29% unfavorable. This makes it very, very hard for Ron DeSantis to prove that he can beat Joe Biden, while Donald Trump is leading.
They also polled on another pro-trump question that they pushed in their previous column:
When Republican primary voters were asked about the following statement: “Currently Donald Trump is leading in all the Republican primary polls nationally by very big margins of 30, 40 or more points and winning early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina by big margins. Even more important President Trump leads Joe Biden in the national media polls like ABC/Washington Post, CBS, Harvard
Harris and others. It’s time to stop the RNC debates attacking Donald Trump, fight Biden’s political indictments, and rally Republicans behind President Trump so we can start the campaign of beating Joe Biden.”
76% of Republican primary voters agreed and only 16% disagreed.
They concluded by echoing that talking point (and their previous column):
As national Republican leaders like Newt Gingrich and Scott Walker have said, the primary is over.
Trump has won the GOP field.
Gingrich and others have called for the RNC to cancel future GOP debates to unify behind Trump to prepare early for 2024. That would be a smart move.
It’s too early to say Trump has won the 2024 election, but his prospects are looking very strong.
Donald Trump as President and a Republican majority in Congress. We have a year to go.
The McLaughlins don't seem to understand how they discredit themselves by sounding much more like Trump campaing operativfes than impartial pollsters.
