Donald Trump welcomed news that fellow presidential candidate Ted Cruz is funding push polls in Iowa that focus on improving the senator’s image at the billionaire’s expense.
Trump tweeted late Tuesday night that the move by the Cruz campaign was “not nice,” but seemed optimistic about new polling numbers since he has historically come out on top of the other 11 candidates.
Just found out that @tedcruz is spending a fortune on Iowa push polls negative to me. Not nice, but OK! New polls are great.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2016
An Iowa resident who claimed he received the automated call shared language from the surveys, which appear to be slanted in favor of Cruz.
“borderline push poll” messaging (against Trump) has arrived to Iowa—or at least to @KedronBardwell‘s phone line: pic.twitter.com/CyQV8ySPTS
— Taniel (@Taniel) January 12, 2016
The interactive marketing technique is typically used by political campaigns to gain a better understanding of a specific group of voters. However, it is often alleged that the wording is aimed at pushing them away from a candidate they might otherwise have supported.
With less than three weeks until the Iowa Caucus, Cruz — ranked second in the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings — may be looking to take back his lead over Trump among Iowa voters.
The latest polling found Trump has a 2-4 percent lead over the senator and remains the first-ranked nationally among all candidates.
