Trump Camp: We’re Not Trying To Stiff Pollster, We’re Disputing Size Of Bill

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
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The Donald Trump campaign on Tuesday said that they are not refusing to pay pollster Tony Fabrizio for his services, but that the campaign is questioning the size of payment owed to the pollster’s firm.

“We are making sure that Mr. Trump is paying the correct amount,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller told the Washington Post. “The vendor in question is still very much part of the team.”

FEC filings show that the Trump campaign has disputed a payment of more than $766,700 to Fabrizio’s polling firm, as the Washington Post first reported on Monday. The Trump campaign originally would not comment on the payment dispute. On Monday, Miller told the Post that it was “an administrative issue that we’re resolving internally.”

Fabrizio was the very first pollster hired by the Trump campaign. He was brought on in May at the recommendation of Paul Manafort. Several reports have suggested that Trump and members of his team were not entirely happy with Fabrizio and his warnings that Trump’s campaign trail attacks hurt him in the polls.

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Notable Replies

  1. Just like with every other contractor he screws.

  2. The size of the bill? Yeah, well, that does make sense since you seem to have other size issues, Donald.

  3. This tactic is consistent with Trump’s behavior. He agrees to terms then, when the work is done, decides the price is too high and renegotiates. Then that amount is too high and they have to renegotiate again. Ultimately the vendor gets pennies on the dollar.

  4. Exactly! This is HO’s MO and Fabrizio should have known that going into this gig.

    Of course, when HO loses on Tuesday, the renegotiated amount will go from $766,700 to $0. Just the cost of doing business with HO!

  5. That seems to be Trump’s MO: he contracts services, and after they are delivered, then he disputes the size of the bill. It’s almost as if he enters contracts in bad faith from the get go.

    I’m trying to imagine why this sort of behavior might be relevant to an election, but I’m drawing blanks. /s

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