A verbal scuffle has erupted between Donald Trump and conservative pollster and consultant Frank Luntz after Trump called Luntz a "clown" and said Fox News should fire him from conducting focus groups after the Aug. 6 GOP debates,
according to Politico.
The results of a post-debate focus group, conducted by Luntz on Fox News, panned Trump’s performance, with participants largely critical of Trump refusing to rule out running as an independent.
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Last week, Trump told Business Insider that Luntz is gunning for him because Trump passed on hiring Luntz’s firm to do work for the Trump organization.
"I watch this guy do a really negative report on me, and the only reason he did it, in my opinion, is because I didn't want to hire him commercially,"
Trump said of Luntz. "I think it's disgusting ... I think he uses his power at Fox to maybe — to get work."
Fox News should can Luntz for his blatant conflict of interest and lack of objectivity, Trump told Politico.
"[Luntz is] a clown. He’s got absolutely no talent whatsoever," Trump said. "He came to my office looking for money. He wanted to represent me in a corporate capacity, which I had no interest in whatsoever. The last thing I need is focus groups from Frank Luntz, who can’t get himself arrested.
"When I had no interest in hiring him, he went on to do some negative focus groups on television and, frankly, he shouldn’t be working for Fox because he’s a total conflict of interest."
He added that "if I was [Fox News President] Roger Ailes, I’d fire that guy so fast for what he did that his head would spin."
Luntz denied having a dog in the fight, telling Business Insider that his only concern is that his results are accurate.
Trump, he added, "launches an attack on everyone who is even remotely critical. If the group had said Donald Trump won this debate ... I would be the world's greatest pollster. Because it didn't, I'm not."
The meteoric rise of both the real estate magnate and self-avowed socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is running for the Democratic nomination, amount to "a big 'f*** you' to the elites in America," Luntz told Politico.
"And that resonates on both sides. But 'f*** you' doesn’t solve anything. 'F*** you' doesn’t make life any better. 'F*** you' makes you feel good, but it doesn’t get you where you need to go. 'F*** you' doesn’t make America strong. 'F*** you' doesn’t solve anything."
Luntz declined to comment to Politico about reportedly telling a group of wealthy conservative donors attending the Southern California summit organized by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch — before the debate — that Trump "was dangerous to Republicans and was 'turning what we believe into a joke.'"
"Luntz argued that Trump is not a true conservative, but is 'addicted' to the limelight and is likely to become increasingly enticed by the prospect of launching a third-party presidential bid the longer he stays in the race," Politico reports, citing unnamed people who attended the gathering.
Luntz stood by his polling and focus group methodology, pointing to the myriad organizations and news outlets who have used him.
"You’ll have to ask CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, MSNBC, Fox and the BBC — all of them have televised my focus groups. Or President [Barack] Obama or Vice President [Joe] Biden — they’ve actually spoken to my focus groups," he told Politico. "Or the dozens of Fortune 500 CEOs who have paid for them. Or Politico own reporters who have attended them and written about the results for your readers.
"In each case, they may not always like or agree with what they hear, but they know they need to hear it."
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