Trump campaign attacks Fox News polling expert who called Arizona for Biden

By Helen Coster and Lisa Richwine

 

FILE PHOTO: A security guard walks past the boarded up News Corporation headquarters building that houses Fox News in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 2, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign on Thursday attacked the person at Fox News responsible for the network's projection calling Arizona for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as a "Clinton-voting, Biden-donating Democrat."

 

With Arizona in Biden's column, he would have 264 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, putting him closer to victory and narrowing his Republican opponent's path to re-election.

 

Trump's campaign website said, "decision desk" director Arnon Mishkin "prematurely called Arizona for Joe Biden before hundreds of thousands of ballots had been counted. Even left-leaning election analysts like (FiveThirtyEight’s) Nate Silver have criticized the decision, but Mishkin is standing by his terrible decision despite and refusing to retract his unjustified call."

 

The website added that Mishkin: "has a long record of donating to Democrats, including the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign."

 

Fox News, controlled by Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp, declined to comment. Mishkin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

The network projected at 11:20 p.m. ET on election night on Tuesday that former Vice President Biden would win the Southwestern battleground state of Arizona, at a time when Mishkin said "80-some" percent of its votes had been counted.

 

The Associated Press, which relies on the same polling data as Fox News, made the same projection three hours later. None of the other major television networks have so far projected a winner for Arizona, saying it was too close to call with so many outstanding ballots left to be counted.

 

Mishkin has said Trump would have to win roughly 60% of the votes that were not yet counted on Tuesday night, which he does not believe is possible. The Associated Press also based its Arizona call on the conclusion that Trump could not catch up in the ballots left to be counted. The Trump campaign has argued the president could make up the gap.

 

Even as the Biden campaign said victory was imminent, a campaign manager on Thursday said it may take time to see the full results in Arizona.

 

On election night, Fox News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts said on air that the Trump campaign was “livid” about the projection.

 

According to Vanity Fair magazine, Trump called Rupert Murdoch on election night "to scream about the (Arizona) call and demand a retraction." Murdoch refused, the magazine said. The New York Times reported that Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner was also in touch with Murdoch.

 

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump did not complain to Murdoch. "If he had, I would not have interfered or changed our call," Murdoch wrote in an email to the Post.

 

Mishkin and other members of Fox’s decision desk were on air frequently on Wednesday defending the call.

 

"We are not pulling back that call," Mishkin said. "There is vote, additional vote that will be reported in Maricopa County. We do not believe that this will change the tenor or the texture of the race. And we strongly believe that our call will stand."

 

A September New York Times column described Mishkin as a registered Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, and is paid by Fox as a consultant, not as an employee. According to the Times, Mishkin operates independently with an eight-member team of statisticians, political scientists, pollsters and journalists.

 

Two days before the election, on "Fox News Sunday," Mishkin said politics would play "zero" role in his projections.

 

"Arithmetic is more important than politics when it comes to making a decision, and you've just got to check your preferences at the door and decide who has won this thing,” he said.

 

(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-06

 

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Awwwww poor Donald lol it’s still trending for Biden stop beeing such a welcher and crybaby be patient the votes will be counted let the chips will fall were they may 

Are Trump's attacks on McCain, much loved in Arizona, coming home to roost?

In times of scarcity, roaches start eating each other.

So we will end up with roughly 50% of the country voting for a president and the other half shouting and screaming about injustice !  Time for a civil war ! Oh. no need, Covid 19 is killing thousands every week. 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump's campaign website said, "decision desk" director Arnon Mishkin "prematurely called Arizona for Joe Biden before hundreds of thousands of ballots had been counted.

What's the big deal with making a prediction AFTER the polls close?

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

but Mishkin is standing by his terrible decision despite and refusing to retract his unjustified call."

What if Biden wins AZ? I think he's ahead slightly now.

 

 

Seems like the trump family/campaign should just wait for the votes to be counted? Plenty of time for whining, complaining and litigating afterwards? 

This is what psychologist call displaced anger. It makes absolutely no difference to the elections results what this analyst predicted. But Trump supporters gotta direct their rage at something, I guess.

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

This is what psychologist call displaced anger. It makes absolutely no difference to the elections results what this analyst predicted. But Trump supporters gotta direct their rage at something, I guess.

I guess "owning the LIbs" wasn't so much fun after alll....

Why the fuss , if Trump has won he gets the votes , if he has lost it doesn't matter who predicted what !

We have a president talking such dangerous and provocative nonsense that all 3 major networks cut him off mid rant , I'm not sure that has ever happened before, what a sad loser !

And no it's not because of media bias , it's being responsible , lying and in effect inciting rebellion is extremely dangerous.

By contrast the president in waiting is appealing for reconciliation and calm , a stark contrast between a man and a child.

I think the call was justifiable, but then again, why the rush? They could have left it open, same as with other states where the margin is razor thin.

Trump was reportedly so enraged he phoned Murdoch seeking a retraction, and Murdoch declined. It says something that Fox, invariably supportive of Trump, has now reported something unfavorable. It's media, it probably has access to better information than you or I.

Trump only knows attack for anyone who contradicts him, that's as predictable as the sun rising in the east.

5 minutes ago, Caldera said:

I think the call was justifiable, but then again, why the rush? They could have left it open, same as with other states where the margin is razor thin.

Prestige of getting there first.

3 minutes ago, Caldera said:

I think the call was justifiable, but then again, why the rush? They could have left it open, same as with other states where the margin is razor thin.

I guess there is some sort of kudos in getting in first , of course it backfires badly if you get it wrong.

It's all moot though , gross hypocrisy to complain when Trump is claiming overall victory when the entire planet knows he is whipped.

This just goes to show how effed up in the head that guy is. He orchestrates an attack on fox for calling Arizona for Biden, but it’s perfectly alright for him to declare himself the winner 2 days ago! ????

6 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Trump was reportedly so enraged he phoned Murdoch seeking a retraction, and Murdoch declined. It says something that Fox, invariably supportive of Trump, has now reported something unfavorable. It's media, it probably has access to better information than you or I.

Trump only knows attack for anyone who contradicts him, that's as predictable as the sun rising in the east.

Murdoch's analysis department told him Trump is toast with a probability of 98%. ????

On 11/6/2020 at 4:50 PM, candide said:

Murdoch's analysis department told him Trump is toast with a probability of 98%. ????

Now it's 100%.

Oh the delicious irony.

Let joy be unconstrained.