Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio is not concerned about recent polls that show Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump, according to a confidential memo obtained by Newsmax.
Fabrizio said he expects to see polling showing Harris gaining on or leading Trump after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race Sunday and endorsed her. A new Reuters-Ipsos poll had Harris leading Trump 44% to 42%, a statistical tie when factoring in the margin of error.
"The coverage will be largely positive and will certainly energize Democrats and some other parts of their coalition at least in the short term," Fabrizio said.
Fabrizio said he expects Harris to receive a bump over the next several days until the race has settled down.
"But the fundamentals of the race stay the same," Fabrizio said. "The Democrats deposing one nominee for another does not change voters' discontent over the economy, inflation, crime, the open border, housing costs, not to mention concern over two foreign wars."
When the Harris honeymoon ends, Fabrizio said voters will focus on her dangerously liberal record and her role as Biden's vice president, creating historic inflation and her failure to protect the southern border.
"While the public polls may change in the short run, and she may consolidate a bit more of the Democrat base, Harris can't change who she is or what she's done," Fabrizio said.
The Reuters poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
Harris and Trump were tied at 44% in a July 15-16 poll, and Trump led by one percentage point in a July 1-2 poll, both within the same margin of error.
When voters in the survey were shown a hypothetical ballot that included independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Harris led Trump 42% to 38%, an advantage outside the margin of error. Kennedy, favored by 8% of voters in the poll, has yet to qualify for the ballot in many states before the Nov. 5 election.
The poll, which was conducted online, surveyed 1,241 adults nationwide, including 1,018 registered voters.