THIS WEEK ON MEET THE PRESS REPORTS: “WERE THE 2016 POLLS REALLY WRONG?”

Chuck Todd is joined by pollsters to challenge the idea that the 2016 presidential polls were wrong and to explore how 2020 polls look in the final days leading up to Election Day.

Tune in tonight, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC News NOW and Peacock.

Just five days before the 2020 presidential election, this week’s episode of Meet the Press Reports looks back and examines the presidential polls of 2016 and the lessons learned four years later. 

The 30-minute episode explores how month after month and poll after poll, former Democratic nominee Sec. Hillary Clinton held a solid lead over then-Republican nominee Donald Trump in 2016. On Election Day, news outlets across the country had Clinton’s chances far ahead of Trump’s. But the results did not match those predictions.

“For nearly the entire race, Hillary Clinton was on track to win the presidency, and handily,” Chuck Todd says at the top of the episode. “That begs the question, how on earth did the pollsters get it so wrong?” Todd continues, “But allow me to offer a somewhat controversial answer. They didn’t.”

In the episode, Todd is joined by polling experts to dive into what the polls got right in 2016, what they got wrong, and what they’re doing four years later, including:

  • Cornell Belcher, President of Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies
  • Jeff Horwitt, Vice President of Hart Research Associates
  • Joe Lenski, Co-Founder and EVP of Edison Research
  • Bill McInturff, Partner at Public Opinion Strategies
  • Brad Todd, Co-Founder of OnMessage, Inc.
  • Fred Yang, Partner at Hart Research Associates

Meet the Press Reports, anchored by NBC News Political Director and Meet the Press Moderator Chuck Todd is available on NBC News NOW, streaming live and on demand across OTT platforms, including Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new streaming service.

The once-weekly 30-minute program focuses on a single topic explored through the Meet the Press lens and takes viewers through deep-dives on pivotal election issues, historical moments and under-reported political issues with long-form interviews, expert discussions, historical archives, and more.

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For more information, contact:

Joya Manasseh
NBC News
e: Joya.Manasseh@nbcuni.com

Claudia Meyer-Samargia
NBC News
e: Claudia.MeyerSamargia@nbcuni.com

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