DRAMATIC: Harris Surges To 7-Point Lead Over Trump

Two polls have US Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris leading Republican Donald Trump by significant numbers.

Harris is leading Trump 47% to 40% in the race to win the November 5 US presidential election, a Reuters/Ipsos poll published today found.

Harris had a lead of six percentage points based on unrounded figures – which showed her with support from 46.61% of registered voters while Trump was backed by 40.48%, according to the three-day poll that closed on Monday. The Democrat’s lead was slightly higher than her five-point advantage over Trump in a Sept 11-12 Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Meanwhile, Harris has surged ahead of former President Donald Trump by 5 points in a new NBC News poll, marking a major shift in the 2024 presidential race. The poll, released Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, shows Harris with 49% support compared to Trump’s 44%, a 7-point swing from the network’s July poll when Trump led by 2 points.

“The race has been completely reshaped!” NBC News political analyst Steve Kornacki said while presenting the findings. Kornacki attributed Harris’s rise to a dramatic increase in her popularity. In July, only 32% of voters had a favorable view of the vice president. However, the new poll shows her favorability rating soaring to 48%, a gain Kornacki described as historic.

Despite the positive news for Harris and the Democratic Party, Kornacki pointed out a silver lining for Trump, who remains competitive in key areas. He compared the current race to the 2020 election, where Trump came close to winning the Electoral College, even though he trailed in national polls.

“In 2020, Trump was the incumbent president, and 60% of people thought the country was on the wrong track. Now, Harris is part of an incumbent administration, and two-thirds say the country is on the wrong track,” Kornacki explained.

Though Harris currently holds a lead, Kornacki emphasized that Trump, now the challenger, could still have a path to victory, especially given the ongoing dissatisfaction with the direction of the country.

“Trump is pretty much in the same place, a little bit worse in terms of views of him as 2020, but certainly in the Electoral College within reach for him,” Kornacki said.