Pollster Selzer defends herself against critics in the wake of Iowa miss

J. Ann Selzer, a pollster for The Des Moines Register, vehemently denied any intent to sway an election poll during the 2024 presidential election. 

“I am mystified about what the motivation anybody thinks I had and would act on in such a public poll,” Selzer stated during a Friday interview on PBS’s “Iowa Press.”

"So, the idea that I intentionally set up to deliver this response, when I’ve never done that before, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do it, it’s not my ethic,” she said.

“To suggest without a single shred of evidence that I was in cahoots with somebody, I was being paid by somebody, it’s all just kind of … it’s hard to pay too much attention to it except that they are accusing me of a crime,” she said in response to President-elect Trump’s accusations of her negative intent.

Trump alleged that Selzer’s poll, which showed him losing by 3 points, was “fake” in a post on Truth Social.

“A totally Fake poll that caused great distrust and uncertainty at a very critical time,” Trump wrote after winning the state’s electoral votes by a 16 point distinction.

“She knew exactly what she was doing. Thank you to the GREAT PEOPLE OF IOWA for giving me such a record breaking vote, despite possible ELECTION FRAUD by Ann Selzer and the now discredited ‘newspaper’ for which she works,” he added.

“An investigation is fully called for!”

Selzer said she would move on to “other ventures” after the November election amid controversy.