Michael Moore: ‘Don’t believe the polls, Trump vote is always undercounted’
Presidential election in swing states is probably closer than the polls indicate, says filmmaker
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Filmmaker Michael Moore said on Thursday that he was wary of polls for the 2020 presidential election which show Donald Trump trailing in the race behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Moore warned that the Trump vote is “always being undercounted” because his supporters are suspicious of the so-called “deep state”.
“It’s awful news that Biden is ahead by seven points in Michigan and I have to fight against this constantly,” said the documentary filmmaker while appearing on Hill.TV.
Moore pointed to a poll from July in Michigan that showed the Democratic challenger leading Mr Trump by 16 points. The 66-year-old filmmaker noted that since then the president has cut that lead in half, suggesting this was the best way to estimate Mr Biden’s support.
“Trump has tightened virtually every one of these swing states to the point where this morning… Biden’s five points ahead in Wisconsin. He’s maybe three points ahead in Florida, two points ahead in Arizona,” said Moore.
“Listen, don’t believe these polls, first of all. And second of all, the Trump vote is always being undercounted. Pollsters when they actually call a real Trump voter, the Trump voter is very suspicious of the ‘deep state’ calling them and asking them who they are voting for,” Moore said.
"It's all fake news to them, remember. It's not an accurate count," the filmmaker said. "I think the safe thing to do, this is not scientific... whatever they're saying the Biden lead is, cut it in half, right now, in your head. Cut it in half, and now you're within the four-point margin of error,” Moore shared, “That’s how desperately close this is.
“People keep asking me ‘what do you think is gonna happen,'” he added. “Because in 2016… four months, five months before the election, I said that Trump’s going to win and he’s going to win by winning Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
“And that got me no free entrances to casinos by the way,” he said jokingly. “It hasn’t done me any good but now they expect me to know what happens next Tuesday and of course, I don’t know, none of us know. ”
Moore continued, “But I wake up every morning with the assumption that Trump believes he’s going to win and that’s good enough for me. If he thinks he’s going to win, then I think he’s going to win.
"And I am going to act every minute of today and the rest of the day until I fall asleep after midnight, I am going to be working to make sure he doesn’t win.”
Moore also referred to Trump as an "evil genius" for his ability to win the election.
“He’s already done it. He’s already fooled everybody and everybody must act right now as if this could happen again. And if it does happen again, game over,” concluded the filmmaker.
Earlier in August, Moore had warned that the incumbent president was on course to repeat the 2016 result. He had said that the enthusiasm for the president in swing states was “off the charts” and urged everyone to commit to getting 100 people to vote.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments