Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the perception by pundits and pollsters that Republican businessman Donald Trump had narrowed the gap from 12 points to one in the days since the FBI announced its renewed investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton was “utterly irrational” and “stupid.”
Gingrich, who serves as a senior advisor in Dentons’ public policy and regulation practice, said in a debate Monday with former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, another member of the firm’s government sector, that the notion Trump had closed the polling gap with Clinton so narrowly was wrong not because the gap isn’t small today but because it was never that large.
“We’re seeing the polls tighten dramatically, although frankly some of them are stupid,” Gingrich mused. “The Washington Post poll that said Trump was behind by 12 points was utterly irrational and a function of how they designed the poll. So the fact that it’s now down to one point doesn’t tell you nearly as much as you might think. He did not make up 11 points in the last ten days, because the 11 points didn’t exist in the first place.
“It’s a close race, with most of things beginning to trend against Hillary, and that’s the pattern we’re seeing in the polls.”
Gingrich echoed those comments the following morning on Twitter, urging people to “[i]gnore polls.”
Washington Post-ABC poll is an absurdity. Trump has not moved up 13 points in the last 8 days.he was NEVER 12 points behind. Ignore polls
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) November 1, 2016
Listen to the full debate, moderated by Kathleen O’Connor:
