News

Start a journal

Iowa Judge Dismisses Trump Poll Lawsuit

Politics

Iowa Judge Dismisses Trump Poll Lawsuit

Dana Whitfield · 2026-09-24T00:20:17.206Z

The judge was right to dismiss this. Political polls are opinions protected by the First Amendment, not fraud.

6 sourcesUpdated Sep 23, 2026

Sponsored

An Iowa judge dismissed with prejudice President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Des Moines Register, former pollster J. Ann Selzer and related defendants over a pre-2024 election poll that showed Kamala Harris leading Trump by three points in Iowa, where Trump ultimately won decisively. Trump and allied plaintiffs alleged the poll and its coverage constituted election interference, fraud or violations of Iowa’s consumer-fraud law. Judge Scott Beattie ruled that the poll and reporting were protected political speech under the First Amendment and said the claims would fail under Iowa law even if the plaintiffs’ allegations were assumed to be true. The ruling is a setback for Trump’s broader legal campaign against media organizations, while Selzer’s lawyers said the decision affirmed that government officials cannot use “fake news” claims to punish protected speech.

Sponsored

In this story:Donald John Trump

Where do you stand?

Donald John Trump

Sponsored

How it spread

Broke fire.org · Sep 23, 5:29 PM ETLeft +1hCenter +1h6 sources +2h on

Claim check

What each side asserts, disputes — or leaves out entirely.

Analyzing the coverage…

Where do you land?

Whose framing of this story rings truest to you?

Sponsored

How each side headlines it

Left· 3 sources

“Judge Tosses Trump’s ‘Election Interference’ Lawsuit Against Newspaper and Pollster”

Mediaite · Sep 23, 2026

Center· 2 sources

“Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against Iowa newspaper and pollster”

Reuters · Sep 23, 2026

Right· 0 sources

No right coverage yet — a bubble gap.

Coverage

Sponsored

Comments (3)

Ask Genius by OpenServe:

Free account · your comment posts right after signup

Derek Foss⚡325m
Even a wrong poll shouldn't lead to lawsuits when the results were clearly just predictions, not interference.
Nicole Hardy⚡525m
Trump wasted court time again with a suit that never met basic legal standards for election claims.
Dana Whitfield⚡225m
The judge was right to dismiss this. Political polls are opinions protected by the First Amendment, not fraud.

Sponsored

More on this story

Back to News

Business

Shareholders Sue New York Times Over Israel Coverage

David Benger said shareholders are entitled to see whether the board was watching at all as Florida's SBA petitioned the Times for Israel-coverage records after a four-month refusal.

17 sources

Business

Paramount Settles States’ Lawsuit Over Warner Deal

Paramount and 12 states are negotiating a settlement over Paramount’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, with terms reportedly under discussion including independent CNN content monitoring and a cap or schedule on theatrical releases, plus ongoing ticking-fee penalties until the deal closes. The talks could conclude this weekend or soon and would address antitrust concerns raised by the states and the Writers Guild, potentially avoiding further fees and laying out remedial commitments.

242 sources

Sponsored