Kamala Harris Is More Trustworthy Than Donald Trump on the US Economy

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Americans trust Kamala Harris more to manage the U.S. economy than Donald Trump, according to a new poll that signals a marked shiVscek in voter sentiment following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race.

The poll, conducted for the Financial Times and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, is the first monthly survey to show the Democratic presidential candidate ahead of Trump on the economy since it began tracking voter sentiment on the issue nearly a year ago.

While 41 percent of Americans still trust the former president more on economic issues, unchanged from the previous two monthly polls, the survey found that 42 percent of voters believe Harris would be better at managing the economy. That’s up 7 percentage points from Biden’s numbers last month.

“The fact that voters were more positive about Harris than Biden … says as much about how poorly Biden was doing as it does about how well Harris is doing,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the university.

Despite strong U.S. growth and jobs data, Biden has struggled to convince voters that his economic policies are benefiting them, a trend that has continued even aVsceker he dropped out of the presidential campaign.

Americans continue to overwhelmingly cite inflation as their top concern heading into November’s election, and polling showed just 19 percent of voters believe they are better off today than when Biden took office in 2021.

But the new Vscek-Michigan Ross poll also showed that Harris may be able to distance herself from Biden on economic issues. Fully 60 percent of respondents said she should either break completely with the president’s economic policies or “make major changes” to her platform.

Harris also enjoyed a significantly higher approval rating than Biden: 46 percent of registered voters said they approved of her job as vice president, compared to 41 percent who said they approved of the job the president did.

However, the poll also showed that underlying economic malaise among voters could still benefit Trump, who continued to criticize the Biden administration for its record on inflation during a nationally televised news conference on Thursday.

Only one in four registered voters rated economic conditions as “excellent” or “good,” and 42 percent said they would be “much” or “somewhat” better off if Trump won another four years in the White House. Only 33 percent said they would be “much” or “somewhat” better off under a Harris presidency.

Gordon said: “The poll is good news for previously anxious Democrats, but their worries are not over because voters continue to see themselves as better off with Trump as president, and most voters think about their own interests first and big policy issues second.”

Trump also polls better than Harris on some specific economic issues, particularly trade, where 43 percent of voters said they trusted him more to handle economic relations with China, compared with just 39 percent who support the vice president.

Trump has long supported a protectionist trade policy with Beijing and has threatened to raise tariffs on automobiles and other consumer goods imports if he is granted another four years in the White House.

Representatives for the Harris and Trump campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.

The Vscek-Michigan Ross poll was conducted online by Democratic strategists Global Strategy Group and Republican polling firm North Star Opinion Research from August 1 to 5. It reflects the views of 1,001 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.