With the decision of President Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, she surged to a narrow 2-point lead over Republican Donald Trump, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Thursday.
The poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday after the Republican National Convention, where Trump formally accepted the nomination of his party on Thursday, and after Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he was stepping down from the race and supporting Harris.
Harris, now officially the Democratic nominee, led Trump 44 percent to 42 percent in the national poll, a difference within the margin of error of 3 percentage points.
In an earlier July 15-16 poll, Harris and Trump were tied at 44%, and Trump had a 1-point lead in a July 1-2 poll, both within that same margin of error.
While nation
al polls give a general feeling for how Americans feel about political candidates, the actual outcome of presidential elections is usually decided by a few battleground states.
The new poll found 56% of registered voters said a statement describing Harris, 59, as “mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges” was true, compared with 49% who said that about Trump, 78.
Only 22 percent of voters described Biden in those terms.
Biden, 81, dropped his bid for reelection after a debate with Trump in which he stumbled frequently and struggled to respond effectively to Trump’s attacks.
A hypothetical ballot including independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had Harris ahead of Trump, 42% to 38%, an advantage outside the margin of error. Kennedy – favored by 8% of voters in the poll – has yet to qualify for the ballot in many states ahead of the November 5 election.
The online poll surveyed 1,241 adults nationwide, including 1,018 registered voters.
Reuters/Ipsos Poll:
Gent Shabani
