Ed Staley: Media did more to elect Trump than the Russians
Who interfered with election 2016? The Russians influenced the election by releasing the truth, hacking into John Podesta’s and Hillary Clinton’s emails. But the real fault came from companies paid for their polls and the news media that reported them. Convinced voters supposed it was a landslide for Clinton. Disinterested companies, behind-the-scene research bureaus (like spies) influenced the astonishing results.
Remember the CIA predicted Sadam Hussein had “weapons of mass destruction” but did not? How was this election influenced? We were told the outcome of voting before it happened. Why bother to vote? Post analysis said people of color were not mobilized to vote at all, unlike for Obama. With respect, President Donald Trump had many attractions. I was in Ohio in July 2016 and conducted by own unprofessional poll in restaurants, VFW and AmVet halls of Tiffin, Findlay, Fostoria and Cleveland. I looked into eyes of workers who told me they were out of work and mad. Ninety-one percent of those men and women said they were voting for Trump. I could not believe it and none here believed it either. I said, “something is wrong.”
Ed Staley, Modesto
This story was originally published January 24, 2017 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Ed Staley: Media did more to elect Trump than the Russians."