Polls may not be measuring all of Republican Donald Trump's support in the race for the White House, but they will become more accurate as the November 8 election approaches, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh says.
The reason, Limbaugh told his radio audience on Monday, is that pollsters are trying to make news and influence the vote now. But in the end they want to preserve their professional reputations and will report more accurately.
"Now, I'm of the opinion they're not yet. I'm of the opinion that they're still using their polls to make news, to shape public opinion, rather than reflect it," he said.
It will be polls a week out from Election Day that will actually show true numbers, Limbaugh said.
"Of course, they may not care about that anymore, it's such a one-sided thing," he said. "Nothing is gonna happen to them if the blow it."
Trump has said for several of the past election cycles that pollsters wait until the very end to report accurate results, but he added on Monday that part of the problem they face this year could be that they don't know how to accurately count Trump supporters since some of them have never voted before.
He also has said there could be what he calls a reverse "Wilder Effect" in which people who plan to vote for Trump don't want to tell pollsters for fear they'll be looked down on. The Wilder Effect — or Bradley Effect — is named by voters telling pollsters they planned to vote for black candidates (Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder or Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley) when they did not end up doing so because they did not want to be seen as racist.