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Trump dismisses Harris’s poll gains, cites own popularity

Former President Trump dismissed the notion that Vice President Harris has made gains in the polls, as he reacted to her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.

Trump offered his live reactions to Harris’s remarks on Truth Social and called into Fox News immediately after the vice president concluded.

Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum pointed out Harris has made gains in the polls since she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket, particularly with women voters, Black voters and young voters.

“She’s having some success in that, at this point. What are you going to do — what’s your strategy to rebuild the momentum that you had with those voters?” MacCallum asked.

“No, she’s not having success. I’m having success. I’m doing great with the Hispanic voters. I’m doing great with Black men. I’m doing great with women, because women want safety,” Trump said.

“No, it’s only in your eyes that they have that, Martha,” he added. “We’re doing very well in the polls.”

Polling has shown Harris has erased Trump’s lead over President Biden nationally and in key battleground states since she replaced the incumbent atop the ticket in late July. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted three battleground races toward Harris last week, and polling from the organization published last week showed Harris leading Trump in five out of the seven battleground states likely to decide November’s election.

In both his Truth Social posts and on Fox, Trump was largely critical of Harris’s speech, questioning why she did not do more as vice president to address the issues she spoke about, such as immigration and inflation.

“The biggest reaction is: Why didn’t she do the things that she’s complaining about? All of these things that she talked about … but she didn’t do any of it,” Trump said.

He also took issue with Harris’s efforts to connect him directly to Project 2025, a policy blueprint from the conservative Heritage Foundation that lays out plans for the next GOP administration. Democratic speakers throughout the week highlighted controversial proposals in the document, which Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from.

“She knows I have nothing to do with Project ’25,” Trump said. “They throw it out. A group of people got together. They did a thing. I haven’t even seen it. I don’t want to see it.”