WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is dismissing Vice President Kamala Harris’ “honeymoon” in the polls — saying it is confident a divorce may soon be on the horizon.
Harris received a polling bump after President Biden dropped out and endorsed her as his replacement, virtually erasing Trump’s lead in some states. She’s also had large turnouts at rallies and seen a boost in fundraising.
But the Trump team sees all of this as “irrational exuberance” by the Democrats, and says voters will eventually come down from the Harris sugar high, campaign officials told reporters Thursday.
And they’re not alone: Democratic strategist David Axelrod first coined the term about Harris this week and argued that despite the boost she’s gotten, the race is still tight.
The real top factor, per the Trump campaign, will come down to who voters believe will solve the economy and the border — issues on which the former president has been consistently been polling better.
The Trump campaign is banking on Harris’ momentum slowing and views the numbers soberly. The officials said they are looking forward to November as they are not worried about the polling blip.
“The one thing Kamala Harris has been able to do, is she’s been able to restore vote motivation for Democrats, at least temporarily,” one Trump official said.
But, the official argued, Harris is “celebrating getting back voters they should already have had” and she’s “still behind the eight ball.”
“Once this all calms down, and she starts to come back down to earth, all of these numbers are going to change by her, eventually — she’s going to have to answer a question,” the political operative said. “But the truth of the matter is, when you look at this election, given how polarized the electorate is, this election is going to be decided by a small group of voters.”
“Who do they think is best going to be best able to handle these things?” the official went on, listing the economy, the border, as well as Ukraine and Israel’s wars.
Polls show that Trump leads Harris on the economy.
A recent CNBC poll showed Trump fared better than Harris on the economy 2 to 1. Seventy-nine percent of Republicans said they thought they would fare better if Trump were in office, while only 48% of Democrats said the same of Harris. Among independents, 31% said Trump for the economy, compared to 10% for Harris.
The margin was much smaller for national support, with the poll showing that Trump was leading 48% to 46%.
The Trump campaign is especially focused on “target[ing] persuadables” — voters who are more independent and are more “unplugged” than typical MAGA supporters, but still really care about the economy and issues that directly impact their quality of life.
Those “persuadables” are why Trump is going on podcasts, going to MMA events and doing music listening interviews with figures like video game streamer Adin Ross, who is popular with his 18-year-old son, Barron.
“There is a reason why we’re doing podcasts. There is a reason why we’re doing Adin Ross, there is a reason why we’re doing all of those things. You know, these people pay attention to MMA, Adin Ross, okay. That’s the reason why we’re doing that stuff,” the Trump campaign official said.
As far as states they are focusing on, the campaign is eyeing the most critical battleground states. The campaign officials said that “as long as we hold North Carolina, we just need to win Georgia and Pennsylvania” to bring them over the needed 270 electoral votes.
Going forward, the Trump team plans to ensure voters remember that Harris is the incumbent and that she is not removed from Biden’s record. It is also waiting for her to have a press conference, because, as another Trump official said, Harris “can’t talk” like Biden couldn’t “walk.”
“Eventually she’s going to have to answer a question,” the first Trump official said.
The former president hosted a press conference at Mar-a-Lago Thursday afternoon for over an hour partly as a slam on Harris, who has not sat down for an interview since replacing Biden.
The Trump campaign said they will also continue to paint her as a “radical liberal” and that she’s the “status quo,” while Trump is the change. To the Trump team, Harris’ vice presidential pick of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz further “reinforces the narrative that Kamala Harris is a dangerous liberal.”
