Poll: Independents Prefer Trump over Harris for President by Double Digits

Independents–by double digits–prefer former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the country, this week’s survey from the Economist/YouGov found.

This survey, which was taken after the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, asked respondents a very simple question: “Between Harris and Trump, who would you prefer to have as president?”

Despite Harris leading Trump by two points nationally, Trump actually has a one-point edge on this question, as 47 percent said they prefer Trump to be president rather than Harris, compared to 46 percent who said they would prefer Harris as commander-in-chief.

The results, however, are even more stark among independents. By a 12-point margin, independents say they prefer Trump to be president rather than Harris.

Nearly half, 49 percent, said they would prefer Trump over Harris as president, while just 37 percent said they would prefer Harris . Another 13 percent of independents said they “prefer both equally.”

This reality coincides with another stunning reality in the poll. Independents are swinging back Trump’s way.

As Breitbart News detailed:

While Trump predictably leads among Republicans and Harris leads among Democrats, Trump has regained a solid lead among independents, as 42 percent choose him compared to 37 percent who support Harris — a five-percent gap.

That reflects a slow swing in Trump’s direction over the past few weeks, as Harris initially overtook the lead among independents — a lead that reduced to a tie three weeks ago with 36 percent support each and a one-point advantage for Trump the week after. Last week, the two tied with 38 percent support from this group. In other words, Trump’s support among independents — following the DNC and RFK Jr. dropping out — has grown four points in the last week alone.

Another two percent of independents go for Stein, while one percent choose West. Two percent say they “would not vote” if those were the options — down from six percent who said the same last week.

Additionally, this same survey also asked respondents, “Regardless of who you prefer, who do you think will win the presidential election?” Trump, again, has a slight edge over Harris, 37 percent to her 36 percent.

While 39 percent of independents are “not sure,” 38 percent said they believe Trump will win, followed by 23 percent who believe Harris will emerge as the victor.

The survey was taken August 25-27, 2024, among 1,555 U.S. adults citizens. Notably, it was fielded prior to Harris’s sit-down interview with CNN. During that interview, Harris asserted that she has not implemented any of her so-called plans to address inflation and lower prices during her three and a half years in office because “we had to recover as an economy,” claiming that “we have done that.”

When asked if she believed “Bidenomics” is a success, Harris provided a long-winded response:

I maintain that when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost of the annual cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000, when we do what we did in the first year of being in office to extend the child tax credit so that we cut child poverty in America by over 50%, when we do what we have done to invest in the American people and bringing manufacturing back to the United States so that we created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, bringing business back to America, what we have done to improve the supply chain so we’re not relying on foreign governments to supply American families with their basic needs, I’ll say that that’s good work.

“There’s more to do, but that’s good work,” she said.

RELATED — Harris: I Haven’t Implemented Inflation Fixes I Promise Because ‘We Had to Recover’; We Did ‘Good Work’