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More Americans trust Kamala Harris to handle the US economy than Donald Trump, according to a new poll that marks a sharp change in voter sentiment following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the White House race.
The survey, conducted for the Financial Times and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, is the first monthly poll to show the Democratic presidential candidate leading Trump on the economy since it began tracking voter sentiment on the issue nearly a year ago.
Although 41 per cent of Americans still trust the former president more on economic issues — unchanged from the two previous monthly polls — the survey found 42 per cent of voters believe Harris would be better at handling the economy. That is a 7 percentage point increase compared to Biden’s numbers last month.
“The fact that voters were more positive on Harris than on Biden . . . says as much about how badly Biden was doing as it does about how well Harris is doing,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the university.
Despite strong US growth and employment figures, Biden struggled to convince voters that his economic policies were benefiting them — a trend that has continued following his withdrawal from the presidential campaign.
Americans still overwhelmingly cite inflation as their biggest concern going into the November election, and the survey showed only 19 per cent of voters believe they are better off today than they were when Biden took office in 2021.
But the new FT-Michigan Ross survey also showed Harris may be able to distance herself from Biden on economic issues. Fully 60 per cent of those surveyed said she should either break completely from the president’s economic policies or “make major changes” to his platform.
Harris also enjoyed a significantly higher approval rating than Biden, with 46 per cent of registered voters saying they approved of the job she was doing as vice-president, compared to 41 per cent who said they approved of the job the president was doing.
However, the survey also showed underlying economic unease among the electorate could still benefit Trump, who during a nationally-televised news conference on Thursday continued to criticise the Biden administration for its record on inflation.
Just one in four registered voters rated economic conditions as either “excellent” or “good,” and 42 per cent said they would be “much” or “somewhat” better off if Trump won another four years in the White House. Just 33 per cent said they would be “much” or “somewhat” better off under a Harris presidency.
Gordon said: “The poll is good news for previously-anxious Democrats, but their worries aren’t over because voters still see themselves better off with Trump as president, and most voters think of their interests first and grand policy questions second.”
Trump also polls better than Harris on some specific economic issues, particularly trade, where 43 per cent of voters said they trusted him more to handle economic relations with China, compared to just 39 per cent backing the vice-president.
Trump has long championed a protectionist trade policy with Beijing and has threatened to increase tariffs on cars and other consumer imports if given another four years in the White House.
Representatives for the Harris and Trump campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
The FT-Michigan Ross Poll was conducted online by Democratic strategists Global Strategy Group and Republican polling firm North Star Opinion Research from August 1-5. It reflects the opinions of 1,001 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
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