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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on October 11, 2016 in a tweet: Says he won the second debate with Hillary Clinton \"in a landslide\" in \"every poll.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"pants- fire\\"](\\" * Debates * Elections * Polls and Public Opinion * Wisconsin * Donald Trump ![\\"Tom](\\" By Tom Kertscher October 12, 2016 # Donald Trump\'s ridiculous claim that all polls show he won second debate with Hillary Clinton Discord between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan \-- sown by a video of Trump bragging in graphic terms about trying to have sex with women -- is continuing as the 2016 presidential campaign enters its final weeks. On Oct. 11, 2016, four days after the release of the 2005 video, the Republican nominee slammed the GOP House speaker from Wisconsin on Twitter (and later on the Fox News Channel). In the tweet, which came two days after his second debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump declared: \"Despite winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support!\" So, we thought we’d check the polls. Trump and Ryan The relationship between Trump and Ryan, never close, frayed after the video. Ryan denounced Trump’s remarks and canceled what would have been his first appearance with Trump at a rally in Wisconsin the following day. We rated True a claim by Clinton that Ryan still endorses Trump, but the ill will between the two Republicans remained. An hour after tweeting about the polls, Trump called Ryan in another tweet \"our very weak and ineffective leader.\" The response from Ryan’s office: \"Paul Ryan is focusing the next month on defeating Democrats, and all Republicans running for office should probably do the same.\" The debate Fiery exchanges between Trump and Clinton marked the second debate, which was held at Washington University in St. Louis. The town hall-style event drew more viewers nationally than the Green Bay Packers-New York Giants game, but fewer than the first debate. It generated more than two dozen fact checks by our colleagues. So, who did Americans say won the second debate? Here’s a look at the national, scientific polls: Poll Clinton Trump Politico/Morning Consult Registered voters 42% 28% #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on August 25, 2024 in Threads post Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Kamala Harris used to be a man named Kamal Aroush. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • August 27, 2024 NBC News/Survey Monkey Likely voters 44% 34% CNN/ORC International Registered voters who watched the debate 57% 34% YouGov (research company) Registered voters who watched the debate 47% 42% So, not only did Trump not win by a landslide in any of the polls, he didn’t win any of the polls, period. Trump’s campaign didn’t get back to us before deadline on what polls would back Trump’s statement. All we could find in his favor were non-scientific polls, open to anyone to participate, that were conducted online. But such polls can be heavily influenced, for instance, by campaigns pushing supporters to vote, or can skew to one side based on the audience of the website. Some may even allow more than one vote per person. The Drudge Report reported that among more than 1.1 million people who cast votes in its survey, 72 percent said Trump won and 28 percent said Clinton won. In a non-scientific poll offered online by MLive.com, the website for the Ann Arbor News and other newspapers in Michigan, Trump won by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent among more than 27,000 votes cast. And in a non- scientific poll offered by the website of a group of New Jersey newspapers, Trump won 64 percent to 31 percent among more than 241,000 votes cast. For what they’re worth, those are landslide margins. But even in non-scientific surveys, Trump didn’t win them all: In a non- scientific survey done online by the Fox television affiliate in Milwaukee, Clinton won by 52 percent to 48 percent among 325,000 votes cast. Our rating Complaining about a lack of support from Ryan, Trump nonetheless claimed he won the second debate with Clinton \"in a landslide\" in \"every poll.\" But four national, scientific surveys all showed that not only did Trump not win by a landslide margin, he didn’t win any of the polls at all. Our rating: Pants on Fire. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Politico/Morning Consult poll NBC News/Survey Monkey poll CNN/ORC International poll YouGov poll Business Insider, \"Trump says \'every poll\' shows he won the second debate, but scientific polls suggest he lost,\" Oct. 11, 2016 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Tom Kertscher slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2023 in an Instagram post: A wind turbine must “spin continually for over four years just to replace the energy it took to manufacture it.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 15, 2023 in un video en TikTok: \"Biden elimina ‘tráfico sexual de menores’ como una de las prioridades del Departamento de Justicia de su gobierno”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • July 25, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 17, 2023 in an Instagram post: \"Florida to ban mRNA vaccines as credible evidence of biological weapons.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 18, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video suggests Canada wildfires were deliberately set to advance “smart cities” push. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 30, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a video: Women vaccinated against COVID-19 face \"unknown side effects that could perpetually go down through the lineage\" to their children. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2023 in a Facebook post: As of Aug. 25, \"Luis Rubiales has resigned as the president of the Spanish Football Federation.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 24, 2023 in an Instagram post: The World Health Organization said there is \"a possible causal relationship\" between COVID-19 vaccines and multiple sclerosis. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 9, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video shows military planes over Nashville \"dispersing materials into the atmosphere\" for geoengineering. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 23, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 20, 2023 in a Facebook post: “Official statement — Putin assassinated in the Kremlin!” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Tom Kertscher • August 22, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 8, 2023 in a Facebook post: \"The federal government has just declared a major food shortage emergency\" in six states. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 16, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Steve Kirsch stated on August 8, 2023 in a blog post: COVID-19 vaccines have killed 676,000 Americans. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Tom Kertscher • August 14, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 6, 2023 in a viral image: California passed a law “reducing penalties for oral, anal sex with willing children.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 9, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on June 22, 2023 in a post: A new law allows people to permanently erase unpaid debt older than two years from their credit records. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 1, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 28, 2023 in a video: “Skin cancer is a relatively new phenomenon in the last 60 years or so.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 1, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Says Bill Gates said, “We’re taking things that are genetically modified organisms, and we’re injecting them into little kids’ arms” in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 31, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2023 in an Instagram post: A wind turbine must “spin continually for over four years just to replace the energy it took to manufacture it.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 15, 2023 in un video en TikTok: \"Biden elimina ‘tráfico sexual de menores’ como una de las prioridades del Departamento de Justicia de su gobierno”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • July 25, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 17, 2023 in an Instagram post: \"Florida to ban mRNA vaccines as credible evidence of biological weapons.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 18, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video suggests Canada wildfires were deliberately set to advance “smart cities” push. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 30, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a video: Women vaccinated against COVID-19 face \"unknown side effects that could perpetually go down through the lineage\" to their children. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2023 in a Facebook post: As of Aug. 25, \"Luis Rubiales has resigned as the president of the Spanish Football Federation.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ### Donald Trump\'s ridiculous claim that all polls show he won second debate with Hillary Clinton * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 16, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Country Music Television (CMT) has announced a permanent boycott of Taylor Swift.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 11, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Disney World officially moving to Nashville.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Bernie Moreno stated on September 9, 2024 in an Instagram post: “Illegal” Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, are “reportedly killing and eating pets.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Seth A. Richardson • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 17, 2024 in an Instagram post: Karine Jean-Pierre, President Joe Biden’s press secretary, ended a press conference when a reporter asked about Donald Trump’s assassination attempt. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a post on Threads: An image shows Taylor Swift responding to Elon Musk\'s X post about giving her a child by saying she\'s happy to take his daughter Vivian and ‘give her all the love and respect she deserves.’ ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Andy Nguyen • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Tony Perkins stated on September 11, 2024 in a Facebook post: “In 12 states, children born alive after a failed abortion have no legal protection, and in three more states children born alive after an abortion had legal rights that governors — like Tim Walz — repealed.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 16, 2024 in Threads post: Images show Sean Combs’ booking photos after Sept. 16 arrest. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 28, 2024 in an ad: “Kamala Harris has promised amnesty for the 10 million illegals she allowed in as border czar, making them eligible for Social Security. Studies warn this will lead to cuts in your Social Security benefits.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Ramirez Uribe • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 13, 2024 in a rally in Las Vegas: Vice President Kamala Harris is “talking about bringing back the draft.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 15, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: \"ABC elimina a los moderadores del debate David Muir y Linsey Davis\". ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 18, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. 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Says he won the second debate with Hillary Clinton in a landslide in every poll