NEW CBS POLL: Harris Takes Lead Over Trump in Massive Change from Same Poll 2 Weeks Ago — Which Showed Biden Down 5

 

Vice President Kamala Harris has the lead over former President Donald Trump nationally in a brand new CBS News poll — a poll that President Joe Biden was trailing by 5 points at the time of his exit from the 2024 race.

According to the survey, which was published Sunday, Harris holds a 50-49 lead over Trump nationwide. Crucially, she is also deadlocked at 50-50 with Trump across seven battleground states.

On July 18 — three days before President Biden withdrew from the 2024 race — the same poll showed Trump in front by 5 points nationally, 52-47. He also held a 51-48 edge in the battlegrounds.

Many election experts believe Harris has to win the popular vote by 2-4 points in order to prevail in the electoral college. (Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2 points in 2016, but lost the election.) And the vice president is currently short of that benchmark. Still, the 6-point swing in two weeks is massive, and represents a dramatic shift in the race. Harris, according to the major prediction market PredictIt, is now a narrow favorite to win the presidency.

One key reason for the Democrats’ surge in the poll? Harris fares dramatically better than Biden in the mental and cognitive health category. When asked on June 30 whether Biden has the “mental and cognitive health to be president,” only 27 percent said he does, while 72 percent said he did not. Now, 64 percent of Americans believe Harris does have the necessarily mental and cognitive health — while just 36 percent say she does not.

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Joe DePaolo is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Email him here: joed@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter: @joe_depaolo