President-elect Donald Trump faced harsh criticism from the conservative National Review after filing a lawsuit against veteran pollster Ann Selzer. Trump alleged, without evidence, that Selzer maliciously rigged a poll showing him losing in Iowa to harm his election chances—a move described by GOP commentator Jeff Blehar as “appalling hypocrisy.”
The lawsuit comes on the heels of ABC News’ $15 million settlement over Trump’s lawsuit against George Stephanopoulos for stating Trump was “found liable for rape.” Blehar argues this latest legal action is both baseless and self-serving, exposing Trump’s hypocrisy regarding his frequent complaints about the justice system being “weaponized” against him.
Blehar also found himself uncomfortably implicated in Trump’s argument. Trump’s legal filing, Blehar noted, appears to echo his own criticisms of Selzer’s methodology. “He upsettingly repeats my basic arguments seriatim — down to the praise for Selzer’s long-standing accuracy — while completely severing my diagnosis of how she went fatally wrong,” Blehar wrote.
Rather than focusing on analytical critique, Trump twisted the argument into yet another conspiracy theory. “Trump turned this argument inside out, making it sound as if there were a conspiracy against him — ‘She was so good up until this cycle, you can see her planning it in advance in early polls!’ — which is par for the course for him but cannot help but irk me on principle alone,” Blehar continued.
What truly revolts Blehar is what he calls Trump’s “paranoid delusion” devolving into “blindly egotistical lawfare.” He blasts Trump’s hypocrisy, highlighting how the former president exploits the legal system to harass opponents while claiming victimhood.
“Understand the hypocrisy here, the weaponization of the legal system out of sheer pique,” wrote Blehar. “Forget his laughable line about how he practically feels an obligation to do this, for the people! To put it politely, Trump has always talked like a manure salesman chewing on a mouthful of his own sample, and never more so when he’s consciously selling its terminal excrescence as a national concern.”
Blehar argues Trump’s lawsuit was filed knowing it would likely fail but intended to “bleed the opponent via fees or embarrassing discovery” or force a settlement before dismissal. This behavior, Blehar contends, undermines Trump’s long-standing claims that he is the victim of a “weaponized” justice system.
“I fear that far too many will happily join the cheering crowd, indifferent to the principle of it all,” Blehar concluded. Reflecting on Trump’s tactics, he noted, “I am reminded of the fearsome gap that lies between myself and the next four years of Republican governance.”