President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign team has reportedly severed ties with some of its pollsters after leaks of some dismal internal polling data, which showed him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in several key states. Trump had called the polling numbers taken back in March “fake polls” after they were reported by the press last week and insisted that he is winning “very big” in several key states. The pollsters’ removal was reported by The New York Times and NBC News on Sunday, with the outlets citing a presidential adviser and someone close to the campaign, respectively.

zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx President Donald Trump's reelection campaign reportedly removed some of its internal pollsters after internal polling numbers were leaked that showed him trailing his competitors.

The decision to cut ties with three of its five pollsters is meant to prevent further disclosures of survey data, the Times reported. According to the Times, Trump had instructed his aides to deny that there was any internal polling that showed him trailing Biden after news broke about its existence. They were also told to say that they had contrasting data that showed Trump doing well. “We are winning in every single state that we’ve polled. We’re winning in Texas very big. We’re winning in Ohio very big. We’re winning in Florida very big,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday. He also tweeted out that his numbers are “the best numbers WE have ever had.”

.....The Fake (Corrupt) News Media said they had a leak into polling done by my campaign which, by the way and despite the phony and never ending Witch Hunt, are the best numbers WE have ever had. They reported Fake numbers that they made up & don’t even exist. WE WILL WIN AGAIN! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2019