Jason Cohen
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten on Monday warned former President Donald Trump’s campaign should be panicking about Vice President Kamala Harris gaining ground in polling on the economy.
Trump in late July held a 12-point lead over Harris on economic issues, according to a Wall Street Journal poll. Enten, on “CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta,” said more recent polls do not show such a significant lead, and that is concerning for Trump because it is such an important issue for his campaign. (RELATED: ‘You Don’t Quite See That’: MSNBC Data Guru Delivers Brutal Reality Check To Dems After Walz Pick)
WATCH:
CNN's Harry Enten Sounds Alarm On Trump Losing Ground To Harris On His 'Key Issue' pic.twitter.com/MA8KoM7yo8
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 12, 2024
“I want you to take a look here. This is fresh poll numbers from [the Financial Times and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business] poll, and I want you to look: trust more on economic issues, this is nationally, you go back to July, what do you see? You see Donald Trump with a six-point advantage on the economy, jump forward to August,” Enten told host Acosta. “And what do we see? We see something that’s well within the margin of error, but we see movement toward Kamala Harris. Look at that, 42% trust Harris more on economic issues than Trump at 41%. And the movement here, Jim, is key … Because it’s something we’re seeing across polls.”
“You know me, Jim, if it’s just on one poll, I wouldn’t necessarily give a flying hoot, but when you see it across multiple polls, that’s where it gets interesting. So trust more on the economy. This is Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These are the key swing states … We see back in May, Trump had 55% to Biden’s 41% on the economy across these three states,” he added. “Look at where we are now. Yes, Trump still leads in economic issues, but the lead has shrunk … from 14 points down to now, just look at this, down to six points, down to six points … So now we have a race on the economy, within the margin of error on Donald Trump’s key issue.”
Enten also said Harris is leading Trump on whatever issue voters view as their highest priority for them, regardless of what the issue may be.
“I want you to look here. Trust more on the issue that is most important to you. This is June, this is national. What do we see back in June? We see Trump with a 10-point advantage over Joe Biden, 50% to 40%. Now, look at these key battleground states, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. A complete reversal of situations,” he said. “Now we have Harris at 50%, Trump at 48%. Again within the margin of error. But a 10-point advantage for Trump in June. Now to a Harris to two-point advantage, this is a type of movement we’re seeing across the board. It’s not just on those top-line issues. It’s underneath the hood, and that should be truly worrying to the Trump campaign, especially on the economy.”
Pollster Frank Luntz said on Monday that Trump’s lead over Kamala Harris on the most important issues to Americans, the economy and immigration, helps him electorally, but he must cease his “angry” communication style to defeat her.
“The key moment here is going to be the debates when Harris and Trump stand side-by-side and give the alternative points of view,” he said. “I still think he has a reasonable chance of winning, because in the end, the issue agenda favors him. But not if you’re so angry that you’ve stopped reflecting the people you’re trying to reach.”
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