Several Republican strategists told Breitbart News on Sunday that a Missouri poll commissioned by campaign operatives associated with Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s U.S. Senate campaign deliberately undercounts former President Donald Trump’s support in an effort to boost Schmitt in the final days of the race.
Remington Research Group, a political firm associated with Schmitt’s top consultant Jeff Roe, published a poll showing Trump leading the 2024 presidential primary field at 42 percent. The survey shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 18 percent, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) at 6 percent, and other candidates combining for 17 percent with 17 percent undecided. It was conducted from July 27 to July 28 by surveying 818 likely voters in Missouri.
While that sounds impressive for Trump—he is leading the potential 2024 field absolutely and even a fake poll cannot hide that fact—several in-the-know strategists told Breitbart News that the poll is obviously fake because it actually undercounts Trump’s support. In reality in Missouri, several GOP strategists told Breitbart News, the former president is much closer to 70 percent or higher in Missouri, and DeSantis is more likely than not in single digits.
“This is a completely fake poll commissioned by the RINO establishment who are looking to move on from President Trump,” a national Republican operative who advises candidates in both Missouri and Florida among other places told Breitbart News. “There is no way Missouri, a deep Trump state, would ever vote for someone like Ron DeSantis. President Trump is dominating the state and every other state in the country.”
“President Trump is way higher in Missouri than this poll states, and everyone knows it,” a second GOP strategist told Breitbart News. “Clearly, something funky is going on in Missouri with people trying to undermine Trump’s return to the White House. Take this with a very big grain of salt.”
Still a third strategist questions why Schmitt’s team—again Roe, whose firm Axiom Strategies launched Remington, the outfit that published this poll—would deliberately try to downplay Trump’s support.
“Something is off about these numbers, and you have to wonder why,” that strategist told Breitbart News. “Perhaps it is because the only way Schmitt’s team can alter a poll to make it look like they are in the lead in Missouri’s Senate primary days from the election is by kneecapping Trump and boosting perceived potential rivals in a looming 2024 bid.”
On that note, the poll also went into the Senate primary on behalf of Roe’s client Schmitt and the numbers differed wildly from actually independent pollsters in Missouri. That survey showed Schmitt at 34 percent, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) who Trump has already said he will not be endorsing at 22 percent, and Greitens at 18 percent.
“If this poll accurately measured Trump’s 2024 support and had it where it really is not where Schmitt needs it to be to make it appear as though he is leading, that means something like 20 or more points need to move towards Trump from this survey’s published results—and that means Greitens would jump significantly higher and Schmitt would fall,” the second strategist who spoke with Breitbart News said. “In addition, Hartzler’s number is far too high for this survey to be accurate. When Trump announced he was not going to be supporting her, crowds evaporated from her events and nobody went to them anymore. In reality, the field is probably currently Greitens in the low 30s in the lead by a few points, Schmitt in second somewhere in the high 20s, and Hartzler down in the low double digits or high single digits. And in reality, Trump’s support is far north of 65 percent and maybe even north of 70 percent—which is proof the pollster altered these numbers for some ulterior motive.”
On that note, several other polls—including one from Excalibur Strategies—show Greitens in the lead. That poll, which Breitbart News exclusively reported this weekend, shows the field right at these numbers: Greitens 34, Schmitt 30, Hartzler 21, and other candidates 5 percent.