Kamala Harris Leads Donald Trump on Economy in New Poll

Vice President Kamala Harris is trusted more to handle key election issues surrounding the economy than Donald Trump, according to a poll.
An Echelon Insights national survey of 1,005 registered voters showed that more than a quarter (26 percent) of respondents said the cost of living was the biggest issue facing the country today, followed by jobs and the economy (14 percent).
When asked which presidential candidate they trusted to do a better job on the cost of living, 48 percent backed Harris against 45 percent for Trump. On jobs and the economy, Harris was also ahead 47 percent to Trump’s 45 percent.
The Echelon Insights survey of 1,005 registered voters was conducted between September 23 and 25. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
Newsweek has contacted the Trump and Harris campaign teams for comment via email.
Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, previously said Trump’s election hopes will be hindered if voters do not believe he is the best candidate to handle the economy.
“If Donald Trump can’t win on the key issues that have buoyed his candidacy the whole campaign season—specifically, the economy and the cost of living crisis—then his chances of winning are bleak,” Gift told Newsweek in August.
When Joe Biden was the candidate, voters saw Trump as the better candidate to handle the economy, most polls indicated. Polls show a majority of voters think he’d handle the economic issues better than the vice president as well, though she has fared better than the president in the polls.
On the campaign trail, Harris has dropped all mention of Bidenomics, a term the White House has used to describe the president’s push to boost domestic manufacturing, infrastructure and clean energy. And on Wednesday, the vice president stressed a new economic message in a speech to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she cast herself as “pragmatic” pro-capitalist Democrat in the vein of Franklin Roosevelt.
The unemployment rate is near record lows. Inflation dropped to 2.5 percent in August from its peak of 9.1 percent under Biden in June 2022. As a result, in September, the Federal Reserve cut the benchmark interest rate for the first time since March 2020.
“The economy is performing well,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, but that is being overshadowed by “the angst the typical American has about the economy.”
The Echelon Insights survey also showed Harris with a significant lead over Trump in the election.
In a head-to-head matchup, Harris has a 7-point lead over Trump (52 percent to 45). This margin is among Harris’ largest leads over the Republican candidate in national polling.
In a full presidential ballot, Harris has a 5-point lead over Trump in the race (49 percent to 44).