Trump gloats over NYT amid fake pollster controversy

Wedgewood Polls issued a statement this week, asserting that they were a social experiment intended to highlight oversight failures in polling.

Published: October 23, 2026 12:02pm

President Donald Trump this week gloated over the New York Times after a pollster they included in their aggregations admitted to fabricating its data.

Wedgewood Polls issued a statement this week, asserting that they were a social experiment intended to highlight oversight failures in polling. The organization said it had conducted only one legitimate, crowd-funded poll, but manufactured its other data. Wedgewood appeared in polling aggregators such as the New York Times, FiftyPlusOne, and others.

"The New York Times got caught! They used a Company, Wedgewood Polls, that ADMITTED that the Poll Numbers they published were made up and FAKE," he posted on Truth Social. "This is what I’ve had to deal with, right from the beginning! Our powerful Lawsuit against them is getting stronger and stronger everyday. Everything about The Failing New York Times is 'ARTIFICIAL.'"

Some politicians have already blamed Wedgewood for the outcome of pivotal races. Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, for example, blamed a fake poll that showed her losing support for forcing her to suspend her campaign for the Democratic Senate nomination.

Wedgewood notably issued its statement after FiftyPlusOne contacted them for proof of their data and the organization has since deleted its social media.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.

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