Twitter Users Mock RNC Chairwoman's 'Internal Polling' Showing Trump Surge

David Moye

If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, it’s possible “internal polling” is the penultimate one.

That seems to be the reaction of many Twitter users to a post by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel claiming that the president’s popularity is surging based on “internal polling.”

The surge that McDaniel is touting comes from a vague release sent out by the GOP on Halloween that claims Trump’s approval has increased by three points in “17 target states” since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her impeachment inquiry.

But the memo doesn’t mention which 17 states were targeted or the actual percentage the president increased by three whole points.

In McDaniel’s defense, she’s probably correct that impeachment doesn’t poll great in battleground states. But it’s generally good advice to be skeptical of claims about internal polling that contradicts all other polling.

Polls aggregated by FiveThirtyEight show that American voters are four percent more likely to support impeachment than they were two months ago.

In addition, the website said opinion polls of Trump’s approval rating are currently a lowly 41 percent, with a disapproval rating of 54 percent.

No internal polling was needed to determine McDaniel’s less-than-transparent claim would attract a lot of Twitter snark:

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Mitt Romney

In an effort to make the U.S. a more competitive economy -- particularly with China -- Romney has <a href="http://2012.republican-candidates.org/Foreign-Affairs.php" target="_hplink">proposed</a> enforcing looser immigration laws to take advantage of highly skilled workers. Romney also believes economic sanctions and other strategies will ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear arsenal, and has also proposed a "three-pronged" approach to tackling jihadists.

Sarah Palin

Widely panned on "Saturday Night Live" and elsewhere for her inexperience with foreign relations, Palin has said that the U.S. has a "task from God" to spread democracy to the Arab world, and that Iraq forms the "central front" in the war against terrorism. She has said she wants to <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/25/eveningnews/main4479062.shtml" target="_hplink">establish</a> more friendly relations with Israel, saying, "Israel has got to have the opportunity and the ability to protect itself. They are our closest ally in the Mideast. We need them. They need us. And we shouldn't second guess their efforts."

Tim Pawlenty

The former Minnesota governor <a href="http://www.radioiowa.com/2011/04/01/pawlenty-calls-obama-foreign-policy-incoherent-dangerous-audio/" target="_hplink">recently panned</a> President Obama's foreign policy as "incoherent" and "dangerous," pointing to the way the U.S. handled the crisis in Egypt and the Obama Administration's decision to junk the anti-missile defense systems planned for Poland and the Czech Republic. He has <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/03/29/pawlenty-u-s-should-take-on-syrias-assad/" target="_hplink">urged</a> Obama to take punitive action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Donald Trump

With regard to foreign policy, Trump has said he is "only interested in Libya if we take the oil," adding that he "would not leave Iraq and let Iran take over the oil," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> is <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/04/11/trump-will-probably-run-as-independent-if-he-doesnt-win-gop-nomination/" target="_hplink">reporting</a>. He is also critical of the Chinese, saying, "I would tell China that you're either going to shape up, or I'm going to tax you at 25% for all the products you send into this country." Reports the <em>Journal</em>: <blockquote>"I'm all for free trade, but it's got to be fair trade," he said. "China has taken advantage of this country for a long time." Regarding the $300 billion he said China stands to make from trade with the U.S. this year, Mr. Trump said, "What's protectionism? ...I want to be protected if that's the case."</blockquote>

Mike Huckabee

Though slammed in 2007 after <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2007-12-28/politics/huckabee.foreign.policy_1_illegal-immigrants-mike-huckabee-tough-immigration?_s=PM:POLITICS" target="_hplink"> reportedly</a> admitting he had "no foreign policy credentials," Huckabee has since urged a thorough reform of U.S. foreign policy, including eliminating the terrorist threat and establishing normalcy in Iran. On religious terrorism, he has <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/63059/michael-d-huckabee/americas-priorities-in-the-war-on-terror" target="_hplink">written</a>: <blockquote>A more successful U.S. foreign policy needs to better explain Islamic jihadism to the American people. Given how Americans have thrived on diversity -- religious, ethnic, racial -- it takes an enormous leap of imagination to understand what Islamic terrorists are about, that they really do want to kill every last one of us and destroy civilization as we know it. If they are willing to kill their own children by letting them detonate suicide bombs, then they will also be willing to kill our children for their misguided cause.</blockquote>

Jon Huntsman

The former Utah governor has strong hands-on foreign relations credentials, having recently resigned as the Obama-appointed U.S. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/01/jon-huntsman-2012-president_n_803205.html" target="_hplink">Ambassador</a> to China. He has <a href="http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/gop-2012-candidates-foreign-policy-5508111" target="_hplink">said</a> he wants to move foreign policy forward by easing tensions with Asian nations such as North Korea.

Newt Gingrich

A former Speaker of the House who previously sat on the Council on Foreign Relations, Gingrich has <a href="http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/gop-2012-candidates-foreign-policy-5508111" target="_hplink">called for</a> stronger action in Darfur. Still, he has been criticized for his particularly outspoken stance on Sharia Law, on which he <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/foreign-policy/78426/holy-law-blues-islam-newt-gingrich-terrorism" target="_hplink">offered</a>: <blockquote>"I believe Sharia is a mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the United States and in the world as we know it. ...I think it's that straightforward and that real."</blockquote>

Mitch Daniels

Daniels has <a href="http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2011/04/07/does-mitch-daniels-need-to-talk-about-egypt-or-libya/" target="_hplink">been silent</a> on both Egypt and Libya. He has said he<a href="http://2012.republican-candidates.org/Foreign-Affairs.php" target="_hplink"> would </a>scale back international commitments in an effort to focus on internal matters in the U.S. and believes that foreign policy is costing the U.S. financially and must be reduced.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.