Republican pollster Frank Luntz declared that his profession would be “done” if President Donald Trump’s election night performance defied the polls.
Frank Luntz made his comments on Oct. 22 after Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked him about the polls, which significantly favored Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden over President Donald Trump.
Biden had an 89% chance to win compared to Trump’s 10% chance. based on polling data prior to Tuesday, according to FiveThirtyEight.
“I hate to acknowledge it, because that’s my industry — at least partially — but the public will have no faith. No confidence. Right now, the biggest issue is the trust deficit,” Luntz said, according to Fox News.
“Pollsters did not do a good job in 2016,” he continued. “So, if Donald Trump surprises people, if Joe Biden had a 5- or 6-point lead, my profession is done.”
Detroit election workers work on counting absentee ballots for the 2020 general election early Wednesday in Detroit, Michigan. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)
As of Wednesday morning, the election remained too close to call, according to The Wall Street Journal. Regardless of the outcome, it appeared that much of the key swing state polling data was far off the mark.
In Florida, polls consistently showed Biden defeating Trump by about 4 points and FiveThirtyEight gave Biden a 70% to win. In North Carolina, polls showed a bigger lead for the former vice president.
Trump won Florida and is likely to win North Carolina, according to The New York Times.
Pre-election polls in Michigan and Wisconsin showed that Biden would defeat Trump very easily. A poll conducted at the end of October by The New York Times and Siena College showed Biden with an 11-point lead.
Michigan and Wisconsin are still undetermined, according to The Times.
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