Majority says country and economy trending negative as Harris makes gains against Trump: polls

Most voters think that Donald Trump is right about the economy and the direction of the country, according to two national polls that came out Sunday.

A hefty 65% of likely voters feel the country is heading in the wrong direction and trust Trump more on the economy (50% to 41%), according to a national NBC News poll.

In a separate CBS News/YouGov poll, 59% of voters rated the economy as “bad.” compared to 39% “good.”

Despite bleaker view of the state of the US, both polls showed Vice President Kamala Harris is continuing to make significant gains.

Respondents to the NBC poll favored Harris 49% to 44%. The CBS poll, which did not include third-party candidates, had Harris up by a similar margin — 52% to 48%.

The NBC results mark a sharp turnaround from July when Trump claimed a two-point lead over President Biden (45% to 43%).

The vice president’s popularity also exploded dramatically upward by about 16 percentage points since July, with Harris garnering the highest favorable since former President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, per the poll, according to NBC’s poll.

Harris’ ratings have clocked in at 48% positive to 45% negative, in a stark change since July, when voters’ perception of Harris came in at 32% to 50% positive to negative.

Trump, by contrast, drew 53% negative to 40% positive, largely keeping pace with where his standing among voters has been over recent months.

Still, despite the bright spots for Harris, only 28% of respondents felt that the country was heading in the right direction.

A startling 66% indicated that their family’s income is slipping behind the cost of living and 40% were concerned that Harris would take a similar approach as Biden, compared to 39% concerned about Trump taking the same approach as he did in his first term.

The top issue for voters in the poll remains inflation and the cost of living, where Trump enjoys a sizable 48% to 41% advantage over Harris.

Other issues where Trump is on top include the border crisis (54% to 33%) and crime (47% to 41%), per the poll.

Harris nabbed the edge against Trump on getting the country to head in the right direction (47% to 43%), representing change (47% to 38%), abortion (54% to 33%) and more.

When asked about Harris and Trump’s Sept. 10 debate on ABC News, 57% said it made no difference, while 29% felt it made them more likely to back the vice president and 12% picked Trump.

In terms of Congress, 48% backed Democrats taking control, while 46% favored Republicans.

The survey was conducted between Sept. 13 to 17 and sampled 1,000 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

A separate CBS News/YouGov poll pegged a similar trend in voters favoring Trump on the economy.

Although less than two-fifths of respondents thought the economy was “good,” it was an improvement from August, when the outlet’s poll pegged it at 62% to 35% bad to good.

Among voters who describe the economy as a major factor in their decision, 53% favor Trump compared to 47% Harris, marking a shift from August, when it clocked in at 56% Trump to 43% Harris.

Still, Harris, bested Trump both nationally (52% to 48%) and in the battleground states (51% to 49%), per the poll.

In August, Trump and Harris were dead even in the battleground states at 50% apiece.

Harris, who fashions herself as the underdog, has a 2.2 percentage point edge in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polling nationally in a multi-candidate race. She is also besting Trump in the RCP’s no-toss-up Electoral College map.

Trump had largely been the polling favorite before Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, and since then, Harris has been closing the gap. She appears to have been buoyed in recent polls by the debate.

One moment from the debate that went viral was when Trump claimed that Haitian migrants have been eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, something that local officials have vehemently denied.

Among voters, 37% felt the claim was certainly or probably true, compared to 63% who said it was certainly or probably false. A majority of Trump’s voters — 69% — believed it was certainly or probably true.

When asked about Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants en mass, 53% favored the proposal, compared to 47% opposed in the CBS poll.

Another key finding from the CBS poll was that 71% felt American democracy was threatened compared to 29% who felt it was secure.

The CBS News/YouGov survey sampled 3,129 registered voters nationally between Sept. 18-20 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

Voters will make their decision on Nov. 5 — in just 44 days.