The morning after was not kind to Vice President Kamala Harris, at least not at the leading national betting books.
Already the betting favorite Monday by 9.2%, Republican former President Donald Trump surged to 17.2% by midday Thursday – the biggest headlines from each happening on Wednesday in interviews rather than campaign rallies. And each happened on the home of Fox News, a network known for the conservative lean to the right.
Trump, appearing with Harris Faulkner on “The Faulkner Focus,” said transgender athletes competing in women’s sports would be banned if he’s given a second administration. Transgender woman means a person assigned the male sex at birth who identifies and lives femininely.
The vice president, whose party has occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for 12 of the last 16 years, was on later in the evening with Fox News host Bret Baier. She was inconsistent with her answer from a week earlier telling American voters her “presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency.”
Eight days earlier on ABC’s The View, she replied, “There is not a thing that comes to mind” when co-host Sunny Hostin asked, “If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?”
Trump’s RealClear Polling betting odds average lead – on Monday 54.1%-44.9% – has climbed to 58.1%-40.9% and he leads all seven sources used to generate the average. Bwin (60%) is strongest, followed by Polymarket (59%), Bovada (59%), Points Bet (58%), Betsson (58%), Betfair (57%) and Smarkets (56%).
Trump has a 20-point platform, led by a return to enforcement of securing national borders. He chastises the Democrats for inflation that at 2.4% remains higher than when he left office in January 2021, yet is considerably lower than the 9.1% high of June 2022 under the watch of President Joe Biden. Energy independence and “manufacturing superpower” are also in his top five.
Harris, second in command to Biden, says her top issues are an opportunity economy and lower costs for families. Tax cuts for the middle class, affordable rent and home ownership, and growth by small businesses also top her list. She favors a return to Roe v. Wade on abortion.
Critics have picked away at both candidates, in particular on TV appearances. For example, the ABC News debate on Sept. 10 was deemed moderator-friendly to Harris and both of Wednesday’s appearances were deemed friendly to Trump. True independent hosts for interviews has, arguably, been elusive.
Election Day is 19 days away.
