FAKE NEWS POLL? Trump-Backed Businessman Threatens Lawsuit as Suspicious Survey Shows Him Trailing in Deep Red District
A brazenly questionable poll showing Republican businessman Anthony Constantino trailing his Democratic opponent by 10 points in one of America’s most conservative congressional districts has sparked outrage and potential legal action—raising serious questions about whether this is legitimate polling or political manipulation designed to juice Democratic fundraising.
Constantino, the dynamic entrepreneur behind Sticker Mule who made national headlines by emblazoning a massive “Vote for Trump” sign on his upstate New York factory roof, isn’t backing down from this fight. He’s calling the survey exactly what it appears to be: “political corruption” masquerading as objective polling.
The Numbers Don’t Add Up
The deeply suspect survey claims dairy farmer Blake Gendebien leads Constantino 43-39 in New York’s 21st Congressional District—a seat being vacated by Rep. Elise Stefanik. But here’s what makes this poll reek of manipulation: this district has a 10-point Republican registration advantage and Trump carried it by more than 20 points in 2024.
Let that sink in. A district where Trump dominated by double digits is supposedly ready to flip Democrat? In what universe does that math work?
“They put out a totally fake poll and they do this for one reason only – to help the Democratic Party fundraise,” Constantino declared Thursday, announcing he’s consulting with attorneys about potential legal remedies. “We’re talking to lawyers seeing what can be done.”
A Pattern of Polling Deception
This isn’t Constantino’s first rodeo with bogus surveys. A similar poll in April showed him trailing in the Republican primary by 10 points—despite carrying President Trump’s blockbuster endorsement over state Assemblyman Robert Smullen.
The result? Constantino crushed his opponent by 19 points. The poll wasn’t just wrong—it was spectacularly, embarrassingly wrong.
That’s a 29-point polling miss. These aren’t rounding errors or margin-of-error issues. This is systematic distortion.
The Credibility Crisis in Modern Polling
Constantino’s team has identified multiple red flags with the latest survey that suggest either gross incompetence or deliberate manipulation. The poll may have systematically undercounted rural voters—the backbone of Republican strength in upstate New York. It included a write-in candidate who has virtually no campaign infrastructure. And bizarrely, it shows favorability numbers for Governor Kathy Hochul that contradict virtually every other measure of her toxic unpopularity.
“We have a real poll which shows me way up,” Constantino stated flatly. His internal numbers apparently tell a radically different story—one that actually aligns with the district’s overwhelming Republican fundamentals.
The Bigger Picture: Democrat Desperation
This polling controversy fits a disturbing national pattern. Democrats are hyping questionable surveys showing them competitive in deeply red territory while legacy media outlets breathlessly amplify these narratives without scrutiny.
Yes, Democrats have shown some strength in generic ballot polling and certain Senate races. But claiming a dairy farmer Democrat is poised to flip a district Trump won by 20-plus points? That’s not polling—that’s propaganda with a statistical veneer.
The timing is telling. Gendebien’s camp immediately seized on the poll to claim voters “don’t want more name-calling and stunts, we want results.” Translation: they desperately needed something—anything—to convince donors this race is worth funding and to demoralize Republican voters.
Trump’s Continued Support
Constantino maintains a powerful advantage his opponent can never match: the full-throated backing of President Donald Trump. The commander-in-chief appeared with GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman in Garden City on Friday, personally calling Constantino and other Republican lawmakers on stage in a show of solidarity.
This is the same Anthony Constantino who commissioned a $250,000 bronze statue commemorating Trump’s survival of an assassination attempt and presented it to the president as a gift. Trump knows who his loyal allies are—and he doesn’t forget.
The Real Stakes
Stefanik won her sixth term in 2024 with a crushing 62-38 victory margin in this very district. The fundamentals haven’t changed. The voters haven’t suddenly embraced progressive ideology. What has changed is the desperation level among Democrats who see their House majority slipping away and will apparently say—or poll—anything to maintain the illusion of competitiveness.
Veteran GOP strategist Ed Rollins may believe “the House is gone,” predicting Democrats could gain 10 to 20 seats. But Rollins is analyzing national trends, not the specific dynamics of deep red districts where Trump’s coalition remains rock-solid.
The question isn’t whether Constantino will win—the question is by how much. And when he does, this bogus poll will stand as yet another example of how thoroughly discredited the polling industry has become.
Smart voters in New York’s 21st District won’t be fooled by manufactured narratives. They know their district, they know their values, and they know who stands with President Trump.
Anthony Constantino does. And in November, that’s what will matter—not some suspiciously timed poll that defies every logical metric of political reality.
