D.C. Memo: Rocco Gets a Pass from Trump in Iowa Poll Lawsuit

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Trump: Rocco gets a pass. President-elect President Trump has sued the Des Moines Register (DMR) and its pollster over a Nov. 2 poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris taking a three-point lead even though Trump cruised to victory in Iowa three days later. The poll in question – which the suit called “brazen election interference” to help Harris in a lopsided red state won by Trump in 2016 and 2020 – was sponsored by the DMR and Mediacom, the regional broadband ISP owned by cable billionaire Rocco Commisso. Policyband yesterday obtained a copy of the lawsuit (see below), which named the DMR, pollster Ann Selzer, Tribune Co. and Gannett Co. (which owns the DMR) as the only defendants. Commisso’s Mediacom was left off the list. “The Harris Poll was no ‘miss’ but rather an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election,” Trump’s lawsuit said. The New York Times yesterday put four reporters on the story – including star Maggie Haberman – but their story failed even to mention that Mediacom had attached its brand on the Selzer poll. (Story continues after paywall.)