Harris, Trump now see equal support on who would be best for economy: Survey

Voters now see Vice President Harris and former President Trump as roughly equal over who would best support the economy, according to a new survey.

The latest poll, conducted by The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found voters are split on who they trust to handle the economy. Harris earns 41 percent support compared to Trump’s 43 percent, the data shows.

About 1 in 10 voters said they either trust the two party nominees equally or don’t trust either candidate, per the survey.

The former president has sought to link Harris to President Biden’s unpopular record on inflation and his “Bidenomics” agenda. But as the economy appears to be moving in a more positive direction — including a half-point interest rate cut — the vice president has been able to capitalize on the shift, likely helping to shift public opinion on the issue.

Before dropping out of the race, roughly 60 percent of Americans disapproved of Biden’s handling of the economy, according to a separate AP-NORC poll conducted in late June.

In the latest survey, 80 percent of registered voters listed the economy as one of the most important issues going into November.

The survey noted that Americans this summer were more likely to say they were better off financially under Trump’s administration, and suggested Biden’s handling of the economy did not make much of a difference in their life.

Just about one-third of voters say the state of the country’s economy is somewhat or very good and 6 in 10 say their individual household is doing well, despite the political debate over the economy, per the poll.

Respondents generally placed more trust on Harris than Trump to handle health care, including abortion and gun policy, as well as climate change. Voters ranked the GOP nominee higher on immigration and responding to the Israel-Hamas war, but were split over how each candidate would handle crime.

The AP-NORC survey was conducted Sept. 12-16 among 1,771 voters and has a 3.4 percentage point margin of error.