Fox News poll showed Harris' support in Sun Belt, not with veterans | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Image shows Fox News poll indicating Harris more popular than Trump with veterans

An Aug. 29 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes what appears to be a Fox News graphic showing Vice President Kamala Harris with a significant lead over former President Donald Trump with certain demographics.

The graphic shows 89% of veterans support Harris, compared to only 9% that support Trump. It gives similar breakdowns for female and wounded veterans and active military members.

“The Fox News poll on Trump support among military veterans after his desecration of Arlington National Cemetery is surprisingly harsh on Trump,” reads the post's caption.

The post was shared more than 400 times in one day. Other versions of the claim spread widely on X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: Altered

The image is fabricated. Fox News did not publish a poll with those numbers, a network spokesperson said. A Fox News poll conducted in late August focused on Sun Belt voters but did not differentiate by veteran status.

Actual poll found Black voters, women contribute to Harris support

The claim came amid fallout over Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 26 to commemorate service members killed in a 2021 attack during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Members of Trump's team had an altercation with a cemetery staff member who tried to stop the campaign from filming in a prohibited area during the visit, USA TODAY reported. Trump campaign officials have said they had permission to film in the area.

But Fox News didn't survey veterans about their support for Trump and Harris after the incident.

“This image is fake and we have not published a poll with this data,” said Fox News spokesperson Jessica Ketner.

The outlet did, however, publish poll results Aug. 28 that found Harris was closing the gap with Trump in Sun Belt states. It found Harris was doing better in polling than President Joe Biden previously had because of strong support from women, Black voters and young voters.

Fox News issued a news release and more specific data on the survey results, which also showed the outlet did not differentiate by veteran or disability status.

Fact check: No, Kamala Harris didn't 'back out' of Sept. 4 debate

There are other factors about the Facebook post that indicate it is a fabrication.

The graphic claims the poll was conducted between Aug. 26–28, but the date range for the genuine Fox News poll was between Aug. 23–26.

Additionally, the Facebook user directed users to an article from The Hill that it claims has “additional source data,” but the article references the findings of the poll released Aug. 28 and does not provide evidence to support the figures in the graphic.

USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims about Fox, including false assertions that an image shows a Fox Business graphic about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s “communist agenda” and that Fox News didn’t report on Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush money trial.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Image of Fox News poll about Harris, Trump is fabricated | Fact check

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