Trump gives mixed messages on polling in race against Harris

Former President Donald Trump has given conflicting statements on the validity of recent polling in the 2024 race against Vice President Kamala Harris .

At a campaign rally Thursday afternoon in Potterville, Michigan , Trump first claimed that he was doing well in presidential polls before casting doubt on their accuracy.

"Every time they see me going up in the polls, and we're leading in the polls, and I think we're leading by a lot. You know, the polls — the polls are rigged too," Trump told the crowd of supporters.

"You know, they say Donald Trump is tied," Trump continued in a mocking voice. "You know, we were up massively by Biden. How would you like to be me? I spent $100 million on beating Biden."

Hours later, during a town hall with former Democratic Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard in Wisconsin, Trump bragged about beating Harris in polling.

"The polls have us up here. We're up in this — we're up in states, but it's close. It's close," Trump said. "And, you know, they cheat like hell. So we don't want to have it too close ... because we have to get — we have to win this."

A Reuters-Ipsos poll released Thursday showed Harris leading Trump, 45% to 41% while a USA Today-Suffolk University poll also released on the same day showed Harris leading Trump 48% to 43%.

Democratic enthusiasm over Harris replacing Biden as the presidential nominee has fueled record fundraising and helped the vice president overtake Trump if not close the gap in polling in the seven battleground states that will determine the election this November.

A Hill-Emerson College poll released on Thursday showed Harris leading Trump in Michigan 50% to 47%, Georgia 49% to 48%, and Nevada 49% to 48%. The two rivals are tied in Pennsylvania at 48%, but in Wisconsin and North Carolina, Trump leads Harris 49% to 48%, and in Arizona, Trump leads Harris 50% to 47%.

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The Trump campaign tried to tamp down any polling increase Harris would receive after the conclusion of last week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago. "Post-DNC we will likely see another small (albeit temporary) bounce for Harris in the public polls," wrote Trump pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Travis Tunis in a memo.

But the pair also wrote that "while the media is going to focus on the national polls, we
need to keep our eye on the ball – that is the polling in our target states."