Kamala Harris Gets Good Sign on Key Trump Issues: Poll

Vice President Kamala Harris has significantly reduced former President Donald Trump’s lead on several key issues that could prove decisive in November’s presidential election, according to the results of a new poll.
A poll released by USA Today/Suffolk University on Tuesday shows that Trump’s once commanding leads over President Joe Biden on issues including the economy, immigration and national security have been whittled down to tiny advantages roughly two months ahead of Election Day.
The survey, conducted among 1,000 likely voters between August 25 and August 28, found that 47.6 percent of respondents preferred Harris to 43.3 percent for Trump, giving her a 4.3 percent edge over the former president—just outside the poll’s 3.1 percent margin of error.
On the economy, which voters rated as their top issue, 50.6 percent of respondents said that Trump would do a “better job” than Harris, backed on the issue by 44.8 percent of voters.
In an edition of the poll released on July 8, just 13 days before Biden dropped out of the election and endorsed Harris as his replacement, Trump led the incumbent president on the economy by 54 percent to 40.4 percent.
On immigration, another critical voter issue, Trump led Harris by 50.2 percent to 46.5 percent. Trump’s 3.7 percent margin represents a massive improvement for the Democratic ticket since the July poll when the former president had a 13.2 percent advantage over Biden.
Harris also narrowed Trump’s lead on national security. In July, 52 percent of voters backed Trump on the issue, while 42.4 percent backed Biden. In the latest edition of the poll, Trump had the support of 50.5 percent of respondents versus 46.3 percent for Harris.
Meanwhile, Harris has improved Biden’s advantages over Trump on health care and race relations. Biden had 10.2 percent leads over Trump on both issues. Harris now leads Trump on health care by 13.8 percent while holding an 18.6 percent lead on race relations.
In an email to Newsweek, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the following: “Polling shows President Trump is dominating both nationally and in the battleground states because voters want a return to pro-America policies that actually work, not the weak, failed, and dangerously liberal policies of Comrade Kamala.”
Cheung cited recent swing state polls from InsiderAdvantage and The Trafalgar Group, which show the race neck-and-neck. He also pointed to Trump being slightly ahead of Harris in betting odds on Peter Thiel-backed website Polymarket and in an election forecast from Nate Silver, who works for Polymarket.
Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign for comment via email on Tuesday.
The vice president’s overall 4.3 percent advantage over Trump in the new USA Today/Suffolk University poll represents a swing of more than 8 points for the Democratic ticket since Harris became the presidential candidate. In the July 8 poll, Trump was leading Biden by 3.9 percent.
David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said in a statement that Harris was able to leapfrog Trump in the latest poll because “young people, persons of color, and low-income households have swung dramatically towards the vice president.”
Another factor in the turnaround could be increased enthusiasm among Democrats. While the new poll shows that a margin of 60 percent of Trump voters remain “very excited” to vote, 68 percent of Harris voters are now also “very excited,” doubling enthusiasm for the ticket under Biden.