Harris gains on Trump on economy and crime, poll finds
A new poll from Reuters/Ipsos claims that Vice President Kamala Harris is gaining in the polls against former President Donald Trump on issues Trump once dominated, such as crime and the economy.
Former President Donald Trump's edge over Vice President Kamala Harris on the topics of crime and economic policy is slipping, according to a new poll.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, released on Tuesday, shows Trump now maintains a slim 3% lead against Harris on employment and economic issues — 43% against Harris's 40%.
In late July, Trump was leading Harris on economic issues by 11 points in the same poll.
The gap is closing between the candidates on other key issues as well.
Trump and Harris are now tied at 40% on the issue of tackling crime and corruption. Last month, Trump led Harris by 5 percentage points on the issue.
The margin of error for the August poll is +/- 4%, meaning even Trump's economic policy advantage is too close to be considered a solid lead.
CURRENT POLLS ACTUALLY SHOULD GIVE HARRIS BACKERS REASON TO WORRY ABOUT HER CHANCES: DEM STRATEGIST
Political operatives and pollsters are working desperately to build a reliable model of U.S. voters heading into the November presidential election, but accuracy remains a concern following 2016 and 2020.
Democratic pollsters also fear the prospect of another polling error, even though several of the party’s top firms got together in an attempt to diagnose the problem after the two past elections.
"Every year, we’ve had different curveballs. This is a difficult industry," John Anzalone, the lead pollster on Biden’s 2020 campaign, told Politico. "Something’s gonna happen in 2024. You and I, right now, don’t know what that is."
While Trump won in 2016 and failed to win re-election in 2020, the former president greatly outperformed his polling numbers in two close elections — a fact that is not lost on Democrats heading into the last stretch of 2024.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted between Aug. 23 and Aug. 25. The group surveyed 1,028 adults, 902 of whom were registered voters.
The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4%.
