Harris Surging With Swing State White Working Class Voters — ‘Donald Trump’s Core Group’

CNN data guru Harry Enten reported on recent polling numbers that are promising for Vice President Kamala Harris, showing her surging with voters usually viewed as former President Donald Trump’s base.

Anchor Erin Burnett introduced the segment by noting that Harris was not just making gains against Trump generally, but also “making gains in key swing states with a surprising and crucial voting group.” She brought on Enten to explain his “very interesting” findings in these latest swing state polls.

The white working class voters, meaning white voters without a college degree, said Enten, are “Donald Trump’s core group,” and they were key to his ability to “break down the blue wall” in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

But there was a stark difference in the support for Trump among this group now compared to a few months ago, when President Joe Biden was still in the race.

“Trump still leads, but look at that margin,” said Enten, “It has shrunk significantly. It was 25 points back in May. It is now 14 points now here in August — nearly been sliced by half.”

Harris’ numbers in this group were now “actually slightly better than Joe Biden did four years ago,” he continued, noting that one of Biden’s concerns about dropping out of the race was the uncertainty over whether Harris would be able to “break in with this group, but it turns out she absolutely can.”

This was a “fascinating” development, said Burnett, in how it created “an immediate map expansion” for the Harris campaign. She pointed out that the poll also asked voters’ views of the ex-president on the economy, “an issue Trump has been extremely strong on,” and asked Enten if that was changing.

“It is,” Enten confirmed, saying that Trump still had “a clear advantage” with white working class voters in these Great Lakes swing states, ‘but again, the margins are shrinking, and elections are all about margins.”

When asked who voters trust more on the economy, said Enten, Trump had a 36 point advantage over Biden in May. That lead had now shrunk to 24 points against Harris in August.

“This is also a change election,” Enten added, and Harris was “breaking through” with these voters on that issue as well.

Burnett asked if these issues could “tip the scale” in “other crucial must-win states” for Harris.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” said Enten, because non-college whites were “a key group across the board,” and “a plurality of voters” in most states and actually the majority in these Great Lakes battleground states.

“The fact that Harris is closing in on Trump with them is the big reason why she has those advantages she has now,” concluded Enten, “and a welcome thing for Democrats, definitely.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law & Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on the BBC, MSNBC, NewsNation, Fox 35 Orlando, Fox 7 Austin, The Young Turks, The Dean Obeidallah Show, and other television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe.