Polls show that Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is ahead of her Republican rival in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
According to a new poll, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has a lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump in three swing states that are crucial for the upcoming US election.
According to a New York Times-Siena College poll released Saturday, Harris enjoys 50 percent support among voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while Trump receives 46 percent support in each of those states.
The results come just weeks after Harris launched her push for the White House after U.S. President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the race last month due to concerns about his age and ability to serve another term.
Since Harris officially launched her campaign, the US Vice President has secured strong support from key sections of the Democratic Party – especially young voters and people of color – as well as from donors and leading Democratic lawmakers.
Her decision this week to nominate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate also sparked a new wave of enthusiasm for the Democrats.
But the Biden administration’s staunch support for Israel in the Gaza war remains a point of criticism, especially in Michigan, a key swing state that is home to one of the largest Arab populations in the United States.
At a rally in Detroit this week, Harris rebuffed a group of protesters who interrupted her speech to demand an end to the war.
“You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, say so. Otherwise, I’ll do the talking,” she told the protesters, drawing widespread criticism from Palestinian human rights activists and other progressives.
But a few days later, at a rally in Arizona on Friday, Harris changed her tone when she encountered further protests over Gaza.
“The president and I are working around the clock every day to finalize the ceasefire and bring the hostages home. I respect your opinion, but we are here now to talk about the 2024 election campaign,” she said.
Supporters urged Harris to back away from Biden’s staunch support for Israel, including calling on her to stop supplying weapons to the US ally in the Gaza war.
Since entering the race, Harris has also faced a barrage of attacks from Trump, the former president and Republican presidential candidate for 2024, and his running mate JD Vance.
Asked how he had changed his approach to the new challenge posed by Harris, Trump insisted Thursday that this was not the case.
In a question-and-answer session with reporters that lasted over an hour, Trump claimed that Harris and Walz were weak candidates whose poll numbers were already plummeting.
Nevertheless, he expressed regret that he could not run against Biden in the election and suggested that the president was the victim of an unconstitutional plot aimed at ousting him from the top of the Democratic ticket.
Trump’s campaign team called the Harris-Waltz campaign “every American’s nightmare” and personally attacked Harris’ intelligence and ethnic background.
“She doesn’t do press conferences,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “She doesn’t know how to do a press conference. She’s not smart enough to do a press conference.”
