The Wall Street Journal poll that is being reported in quite a few media outlets, did not add a caveat to note that former President Donald Trump's Super PAC paid one of the pollsters. Trump and President Biden are only three years apart in age. However, 73 percent of registered voters think the statement that Biden "is too old to run for president" describes him "very" or "somewhat well." Only 22 percent said the statement described him as "not too well" or "not at all well." But it was different when they asked the same question about Trump.
Trump rated more favorably when respondents were asked the same question, with 47 percent of those polled indicating Trump's age is an issue.
The New Republic reports:
The poll, which was published Monday, found that Biden and Trump are tied with 46 percent support each. But "nearly three-quarters of voters say the president is too old to run again," the Journal article said. It has garnered widespread media attention and outrage. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough pointed out that Trump has been indicted four times and lied many, many more times, and yet he is tied with Biden simply because the latter is just three years older.
But the Journal neglects to provide information about one of the men behind the poll. Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio conducted the survey in partnership with a Democratic colleague, Michael Bocian. In a separate piece, the Journal acknowledged that Fabrizio "works for a super PAC supporting Trump's candidacy."
What the Journal does not mention anywhere is that Fabrizio also worked as the chief pollster on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. And since the start of 2023, Trump's super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., has paid Fabrizio's company more than $567,000, according to FEC filings.
This guy really gets around.
Fabrizio also has extensive ties to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Manafort was convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2018 (as well as of having terrible taste in jackets by the court of public opinion).
Fabrizio owned the firm that made a shady payment of $125,000 to Manafort in 2017. Fabrizio was also the lead Trump campaign pollster at the time Manafort provided raw polling data to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, via Manafort's associate Konstantin Kilimnik. Deripaska has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018, and Kilimnik has been discovered to be a Russian spy.
All media outlets that published that garbage should add that Trump paid one of the pollsters. That guy will do anything to get back in power so he won't have to go to prison. That's a weird platform to run on, but that's where we are.
