Anderson Cooper Casts Doubt on 2024 Polls, Kamala Harris ‘Bump’: ‘I Don’t Think I Buy Them’

CNN’s Anderson Cooper suggested former President Donald Trump could be performing better than polls are suggesting after Vice President Kamala Harris saw a bump in support after their debate.

Colbert joined Stephen Colbert on The Late Show this week and when Colbert asked about Harris’s polling “bump,” Cooper noted that “Trump has traditionally underperformed in polls.” Colbert also called the majority of 2016 and 2020 polls “wrong.”

“I mean, I report on them, I think they are interesting to talk about, and look at, particularly when you dive deep on certain topics,” Cooper said. “We have some great people that look at polls, but in truth, deep down inside, I don’t think I buy them.”

Colbert laughed at his guest’s doubt and did a mock portrayal of Cooper having to report on polls he thinks are bogus as a CNN host.

“I mean, some are accurate, I’m not casting aspersions,” Cooper said.

The CNN host compared accurate polling to “baby pigeons.”

“To me, it’s baby pigeons. They exist [but] I haven’t seen them,” he said.

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll conducted after the debate found Harris with a three-point lead in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. Surveys from The New York Times, Siena College, and Philadelphia Inquirer meanwhile found Trump and Harris in a dead heat lock nationally with 47% each, while Harris held a four-point lead in Pennsylvania. A Fox News poll released this month also found Harris with a slight two point lead nationally, a three point bump from August when Trump led her by one.

Check out the entire exchange below:

STEPHEN COLBERT: “One of the big stories out there right now is the polling bump for Harris following the debate. Now, I don’t know whether to trust polls. We were supposed to trust them in 2016 and they were wrong. In 2020, they were pretty wrong.

ANDERSON COOPER: “Trump has traditionally underperformed in these polls.”

COLBERT: “So, how do you approach polls? There’s polling and there’s trends. How do you approach what’s going on in the polling. Do you care?”

COOPER: “I’ve reported them. I think they’re interesting to talk about and look at and particularly when you deep dive on certain subjects like who seems to, you know, what trend line you live in —”

COLBERT: “You’re looking at the crosstabs is what you’re saying?”

COOPER: “Yes. You know, we have some great people who look at polls, but in truth, just deep down inside, I don’t think I buy them. Like, I just don’t. It’s like — I’m sure some are accurate. I’m not casting aspersions.”

COLBERT: “Please start your report like, ‘we’ve got some polls and, frankly, who the f**k knows,’ but we’ll do it, we’ll do it.”

COOPER: “To me, it’s like baby pigeons.”

COLBERT: “What’s baby pigeons?”

COOPER: “It’s baby pigeons. They exist. I haven’t seen them [but] they exist.”

Watch above via CBS.