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Fox News host Sean Hannity, along with other hosts, have cited unscientific online polls as a gauge of Donald Trump's support. | Getty Fox news exec to staff: Online polls ‘not true measures of public opinion’

Fox News’s vice president of public-opinion research sent a memo to staff Wednesday reminding employees that unscientific online polls, which were cited in several segments to suggest that Donald Trump won Monday night’s presidential debate against Hillary Clinton, do not meet the network’s editorial standards.

"As most of the publications themselves clearly state, the sample obviously can’t be representative of the electorate because they only reflect the views of those Internet users who have chosen to participate," Dana Blanton, Fox News’s vice president of public-opinion research, wrote in the memo to the channel's politics team, which was obtained by Business Insider’s Oliver Darcy. "Another problem — we know some campaigns/groups of supporters encourage people to vote in online polls and flood the results," she wrote. "These quickie click items do not meet our editorial standards."

"News networks and other organizations go to great effort and rigor to conduct scientific polls — for good reason," Blanton added in the memo, which was sent Tuesday afternoon. "They know quick vote items posted on the web are nonsense, not true measures of public opinion."

At least three Fox News hosts, including "America's Newsroom" cohost Martha MacCallum, “Fox & Friends” cohost Brian Kilmeade and "Hannity" host Sean Hannity, referenced online polls on air to suggest that Trump won the debate. Additionally, a story on FoxNews.com reported that online polls found Trump to be the "yuge winner" of the debate. Hannity and Kilmeade referenced online polls in segments that aired after Blanton’s memo was distributed. On Wednesday morning, Trump thanked “Fox & Friends” on Twitter for reporting on the online polls.

Those online poll results are contrary to two scientifically conducted polls — one from CNN/ORC, and the other from POLITICO and Morning Consult — both of which reported that more people thought Clinton won the debate than Trump.

When reached for comment, a Fox News spokesperson noted that Hannity and Kilmeade are on Fox News's opinion side, and pointed to recent comments where Hannity, a Trump supporter, has said that he is "not a journalist."