NBC News poll analyst Steve Kornacki explored how Vice President Kamala Harris lost a commanding five-point lead over former President Donald Trump in the race.
Speaking with NBC Today host Savannah Guthrie on Monday, Kornacki said the race has entered dead heat territory with the polls showing Harris and Trump virtually tied. Just one month ago, however, similar polling showed Kamala Harris not only ahead of Trump in terms of the election but also in terms of favorability rating. Those leads have been virtually wiped out.
“I mean, the top line is the 5-point advantage that Kamala Harris had in our last poll is gone. What’s behind that shift?” Guthrie asked.
Kornacki cited last month’s poll that showed Harris leading Trump 48 percent to 44 percent versus this month’s poll showing her ahead 49 percent to 48 percent. Kornacki also noted that Kamala’s favorability rating has fallen while her negative rating has risen. Last month, Harris had a 48 percent positive rating and 45 negative.
“Some things that have changed in that time. I think this might be the biggest for Harris,” he said.
“We just asked the basic image perception people have, is it positive or negative of these candidates? The Trump number’s always been somewhere in this territory,” he said. “In fact, this is a little bit high for him, believe it or not.”
“But look at Harris, 43 positive, 49 negative. The significance, we polled this a month ago. She was 48% positive and 45 negative. She was above water, as they say. That’s completely reversed. It now looks very similar to Trump’s. That’s a pretty big shift when you’re talking about a race this close,” he added.
“And then here’s the interesting twist. We also asked folks, ‘Think back to when Donald Trump was president. Did his policies help or hurt your family?’ And look at the difference, 44% helping, 31 hurting. The retrospective, you would say, opinion of Trump’s presidency among voters, arguably higher now than when he was president.”
