Donald Trump’s Lead Over Kamala Harris Shrinks in Conservative Poll

Vice President Kamala Harris has shrunk Donald Trump’s lead in a new survey from a conservative-leaning pollster.

The Rasmussen Reports poll, released Thursday, shows the former president with a smaller edge over Harris, just 2 points. Last week, Trump had a 3-point lead over his Democratic opponent, and in July he had a 7-point advantage.

The poll, conducted among 1,879 likely voters between August 22 and August 25 to 28, showed that in a two-way matchup, 48 percent of voters said they’d vote for Trump, while 46 percent backed Harris.

This is the first survey from Rasmussen to reflect independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to suspend his campaign and endorse Trump. Kennedy was getting 4 percent of the vote before he left the race. His exit was expected to give Trump a boost, but the new poll suggests that may not be the case. Thursday’s survey showed that only 3 percent of voters would vote for another candidate.

Harris’ improved showing seems to come from a boost in support from Hispanic voters and slight increases among young voters and independents. The share of Hispanic voters who support the Democrat grew from 42 percent to 45 percent over the past week, while Harris’ performance among young voters and independents grew by 1 point.

Meanwhile, Trump’s standing with Hispanic voters dropped from 50 percent to 48 percent this week. His support from independent voters fell from 51 percent to 49 percent. Harris is also more popular among moderate voters, receiving 53 percent to Trump’s 40 percent.

Harris has also made inroads with voters who say the country is on the wrong track, getting a 2-point bump in the new poll. Trump saw a drop in support from these voters, falling from 75 percent last week to 72 percent this week.

This is the second piece of bad polling news that Trump’s campaign received Thursday.

A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed Harris leading Trump, 48 percent to 43 percent. The figures represent an 8-point turnaround for the Democratic Party since June, when President Joe Biden was still running for reelection and trailed Trump by 3 points.

“Young people, persons of color, and low-income households have swung dramatically toward the vice president,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said Thursday in a press release. “These same demographics were emphasized and woven together by numerous speakers at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.”

Harris formally accepted the party’s nomination at last week’s convention, where she delivered her first prime-time address since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket.

On Thursday, she will sit down for a highly anticipated interview with CNN’s Dana Bash. It will be the vice president’s first unscripted appearance on a major news network since she became the Democratic nominee.

Harris has been criticized by Trump’s campaign for not doing interviews with the press, and a strong performance on Thursday could pose another challenge to the former president.