Trump campaign demands retraction, apology from CNN over ‘intentionally false, defamatory’ poll, network says no

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President Trump’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to CNN on Wednesday, claiming that the network’s recent poll indicating Joe Biden has taken a 14-point lead over the president is “intentionally false, defamatory, and misleading” with the goal of harming Trump’s reelection changes -- but CNN dismissed the request.

“Media polls such as these are designed to manufacture an anti-Trump narrative and misinformation and mislead actual voters. It’s a stunt and a phony poll to cause voter suppression, stifle momentum and enthusiasm for the President, and present a false view generally of the actual support across America for the President,” the letter stated, calling CNN’s poll a “biased questionnaire” with “skewed sampling.”

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The poll in question was among a sample of 1,259 respondents and conducted via phone from June 2-5, 2020, according to CNN. Fifty-five percent of responders said they would vote for Biden, compared to 41 percent for Trump.

The letter, which was addressed to CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker, noted that only 25 percent of participants were Republicans and was conducted prior to positive economic news that was released on Friday.

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“Instances such as this will not be the last time that CNN pollsters manipulate polling data to manufacture the outcome and air misinformation to the American people. If CNN is genuinely committed to protecting free and fair elections, reporting accurately and truthfully, and polling the genuine pulse of American voters, rather than seeking to harm the Donald J. Trump for President Inc. campaign, we urge CNN to immediately correct its inaccurate and skewed poll,” the letter continued.

The Trump campaign formally requested a "full, fair, and conspicuous retraction, apology, and clarification to correct its misleading conclusions."

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Trump regularly lashes out at polls that aren’t good news for him, but the strongly worded letter is is taking things to the next level. CNN has dismissed the request, covering the letter on it’s website and noting that the letter was “immediately rejected” by the network

"We stand by our poll,” a CNN spokesperson told Fox News.

CNN tweeted an official response from its general counsel.

“Your letter is factually and legally baseless,” CNN general counsel David C. Vigilante wrote.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.