Newly released polling data may give fresh hope to the Trump campaign this week as Vice President Kamala Harris’ triumphant entry to the race fades and is replaced by the day-to-day grind of modern presidential campaigning.
A New York Times/Siena poll released Monday shows Trump performing well in three key states, including a 5-point lead in the swing state of Arizona.
The poll also showed Trump up by 2 points in North Carolina and up by 4 points in Georgia. Former President Joe Biden beat Trump in both Arizona and Georgia in 2020 by a narrow margin.
The news is the best the Trump campaign has had in awhile.
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden trailed former President Donald Trump nationally and in essentially every swing state. When Harris replaced Biden, she closed that gap and left the race too close to call.
The last debate was generally considered a loss for Trump, though not catastrophic, as Trump was baited into discussing rally sizes and Jan. 6 instead of pressing Harris on policy.
Harris’ team has said they are open to another debate, though both campaigns would have to agree to the details, something that was a struggle with the last debate.
“Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider meeting me on the debate stage,” Harris reposted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Because, as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.”
Harris has also raked in endorsements from her party, like former President Barack Obama, as well as cultural icons like Taylor Swift and Oprah.
Swift endorsed Harris on Instagram, taking a shot at Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.
Harris has taken fire for refusing to give many policy specifics or take interviews with reporters who are not left-leaning pundits. In the interviews she has done, critics say she has awkward moments of vague, rambling answers.
“Now she won’t talk to these reporters of course,” Vance told his supporters at a rally last week. “How is she going to sit in a room with Vladimir Putin and Xi Xinping? How is she going to sit in a room with the adversaries of America if she won’t even sit down for a friendly media interview?
“I will say, there is something selfish about this,” Vance added. “Part of the reason I want Kamala Harris to do more interviews is because there is so much comic relief in it. I really do believe that every time she answers a question we gain about 100,000 votes.”
Trump’s critics have repeated oft-familiar lines of attack against him, with some pointing out he faces a sentencing for his felony conviction in November, just after the election.
Despite the good news for the Trump campaign, the polls have ebbed and flowed in this campaign.
RealClear Politics’ polling average, which considers polls from as much as three weeks ago, does not factor in margin of error. However, it is usually in the neighborhood of 3% to 4% for most polls, and all battleground states remain under that threshold.
