Former President Donald Trump attacked the Wall Street Journal and Fox News for its coverage on polls in a Thursday post on Truth Social.
The former president criticized the outlets for reporting on Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leading him in 2024 presidential primary polls. He accused the outlets of publishing polls that are “wrong” about him since his first presidential bid in 2016.
“Great polling has just come out on me versus various others, including Biden, but I still have to put up with the same old ‘stuff’ from The Wall Street Journal, which has lost an incalculable amount of influence over the years, and Fox News, whose polls on me have been seriously WRONG from the day I came down the escalator in Trump Tower,” he said. “Same thing happened in 2016, where Fox and the WSJ went out of their way to give me bad coverage and polling, and say I couldn’t win—UNTIL I WON!”
Trump and DeSantis have stood neck-and-neck in polls indicating the public’s top choice for the Republican nomination in 2024. The Wall Street Journal released a poll Wednesday finding that 52% of Republican voters would support the Florida governor and 38% favored Trump. The poll surveyed 1,500 respondents between Dec. 3 and 7 with a 2.5% margin of error.
Fox News covered the poll with the headline, “2024 Watch: DeSantis tops Trump by double digits in second straight GOP presidential primary poll.” (RELATED: DeSantis Appears To Respond To Trump’s Attacks Ahead Of Expected Presidential Run Announcement)
Several polls conducted throughout the year have shown DeSantis leading Trump, though some have found the former president garnering more support than his potential primary opponent. With the intent of securing the nomination, Trump gave the governor the nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious” at a Nov. 6 campaign rally in Pennsylvania. He further labeled him an “average” governor who never would have gained popularity without his endorsement.
DeSantis has not announced his intent to run a 2024 presidential campaign and has dodged all questions relating to the possibility.