Harris leads on foreign policy nationally, but Trump has edge in swing states: Poll

Vice President Harris leads former President Trump nationally on the question of whether the presidential candidates would “pursue a foreign policy which benefits people like you,” but trails him on the same question in swing states, according to a poll from the Institute for Global Affairs (IGA) and YouGov.

Fifty-three percent of Americans say Harris is more likely than Trump to “pursue a foreign policy which benefits people like you,” while 47 percent say Trump would.

In swing states, however, Trump leads Harris 53 percent to 47 percent on the same question.

The swing states in question in the August survey, released Monday, focus on the three northern battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan; and three southern battleground states of Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. North Carolina, a seventh state the two candidates are battling over, was not part of the poll.

Trump has the edge over Harris among the northern swing state respondents, where he won 51 percent, and in the southern states, where he won 52 percent, according to the poll.

Harris similarly has the nationwide lead over Trump, 52 percent to 48 percent, among Americans who say she is more likely to “be a strong leader who advances America’s interests internationally.”

Swing states again, though, associate this sentiment with Trump more than they do Harris, 54 percent to 46 percent, including 55 percent in the northern states and 53 percent in the southern swing states.

Fifty-two percent of Americans say Harris is more likely to “respond effectively to pandemic, mass migration, or similar international crisis,” while 48 percent say the same about Trump.

In swing states, however, Trump edges Harris out on this issue as well, 51 percent to 49 percent, but the southern and northern swing stage sample groups, when taken separately, are split at 50 percent for each candidate.

Harris is seen nationally as more likely than Trump to “improve America’s international reputation,” by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent.

Fifty-one percent of swing state voters say the same about Trump, including 51 percent of the northern state respondents. But southern swing state respondents say Harris is more likely than Trump, 51 percent to 49 percent, to improve the country’s international reputation.

The former president and vice president remain locked in a tight race, especially in some swing states, where they remain less than 1 percentage point away from each other, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling average. Nationally, the vice president is leading her GOP opponent by 3.6 percentage points, 50.3 percent to 46.7 percent, the index shows.

The survey, conducted Aug. 15-22, included 1,835 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. The margins of error for the northern and southern swing states are 5.6 percentage points and 5.7 percentage points, respectively.