GOP pollster Robert Blizzard dismissed the polls showing a tight race, saying the data is clear: Trump has been unable to grow his support beyond the 40 percent range and is likely headed for defeat on Election Day.

“Throw out the outliers,” Blizzard said, singling out Rasmussen in particular. “There are public pollsters out there that have no idea what they’re doing.”

The pollsters for the surveys that show a tight race have been on the defensive for months and are as eager as anyone to see whose methodological assumptions prove true on Election Day.

“I’m scratching my head just like everyone in America,” said Rasmussen polling analyst Fran Coombs. “Believe me, we’re not putting the thumb on the scale to make Trump look better. It’s a crazy election year and this is what the numbers tell us. We’re comfortable with our methods.”

The L.A. Times-USC survey has drawn scrutiny for consistently being the only survey to find Trump with a lead.

One pollster interviewed by The Hill dismissed that survey as “experimental,” noting that it contacts only the same fixed pool of respondents, rather than reaching out to new voters for each poll.