A Republican strategist said on Monday that former President Donald Trump’s campaign should focus their messaging on the GOP nominee’s polling advantage over Vice President Kamala Harris on major issues.
Harris has made some gains in polling since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed her for the Democratic nomination, but still trails by 1.7% in a national head-to-head matchup, according to the RealClearPolling average of polls from July 5 to 25, with Trump’s lead growing to 1.8% when Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein and independent presidential candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included in surveys. Matt Gorman, a former aide to Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, said that Harris was vulnerable on several issues. (RELATED: ‘How Does She Catch Up To Donald Trump?’: CNN Data Guru Says Kamala Harris ‘Still Trailing’ Biden 2020 Numbers)
“Republicans shouldn’t overthink this. We’re back to now the race we expected on June 26, the day before that fateful debate,” Gorman told “America Reports” co-host John Roberts. “Right? We were never going to win like in some of the polls showed at the end Trump up six against Biden. That was never going to happen. This is a two-point race either way, stick to the fundamentals, right?”
WATCH:
‘Stick To The Fundamentals’: Fox News Guest Says GOP Shouldn’t ‘Overthink’ Race Against Harris pic.twitter.com/ROZ3z24sJd
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 29, 2024
“We’re gonna run on crime, economy, immigration and now we add to the mix the long list of leftist positions that Kamala had on tape supporting in her aborted run for president back in 2019, didn’t make it to 2020,” Gorman continued. “So that’s what you can use. Don’t overthink it.”
Trump leads Harris on the economy by a 52% to 40% margin, while holding a 53% to 40% lead on immigration and a 48% to 43% lead on crime, according to a Wall Street Journal poll.
Illegal immigration has become a prominent issue in the 2024 campaign after a series of crimes involving illegal immigrants. Authorities in Oklahoma arrested 23-year-old Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, for the August 2023 murder of 37-year-old Rachel Morin in Maryland June 14, while the murders of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl in Texas, have also led to criticism of Biden’s policy on the border.
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported the Border Patrol had just under 7.2 million encounters with illegal immigrants since the start of fiscal year 2021. (RELATED: ‘Not So Good For Harris’: Democratic Strategist Pours Cold Water On Dems’ Hopes For Rust Belt)
Republicans also have knocked Biden over inflation, with prices having climbed by over 20% since Biden took office, even as the Consumer Price Index rose by 3.0% year-over-year in June, slightly below economists’ expectations, two years after inflation hit a recent high of 9.1% in June 2022.
Biden trailed Trump by in a national head-to-head matchup before the president ended his reelection bid, according to the RealClearPolling average of polls, with the lead expanding to 4.2% when Stein, Kennedy and West were included as options.
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