Although Vice President Kamala Harris has a slim lead over former President Donald Trump in some recent national polls, surveys that matter are in the battleground states, where the former president has an advantage over his Democrat rival, pollster Jim McLaughlin told Newsmax on Monday.
"What really matters [are] the swing state polls, the battleground polls," McLaughlin, who along with his brother John McLaughlin, are pollsters for Trump's presidential campaign, told "American Agenda." "We really don't pay attention to national surveys [with] the presidential campaign. We're basically focusing on those seven battleground states [Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin].
"Probably the worst news in there is Pennsylvania … and that's a real problem for Kamala Harris because basically, for all intents and purposes, the [Electoral College] map does not add up for Kamala Harris if she doesn't win Pennsylvania. Now, Donald Trump can still win the presidential race, even if he doesn't win Pennsylvania. But that's a really, really bad sign for her campaign."
McLaughlin said Trump is doing well in Arizona and Nevada because he is getting a groundswell of support from Hispanic voters.
"You look at Nevada, you look at Arizona, virtually every, you know, good, reputable poll has Donald Trump ahead in those states," McLaughlin said. "The reason why he's ahead is he's doing very well with Hispanic voters, and he's probably going to get a record percentage of the Hispanic vote for a Republican candidate.
"And the main reason is just simply because presidential races are decided on what we call the two Ps: peace and prosperity. And when they do the contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Donald Trump comes out ahead every time."
McLaughlin said Trump appears to be gaining momentum with voters at the right time, with Election Day only 42 days away.
"If you look at Donald Trump, I was with him last week at the New York rally, and you could just feel it," McLaughlin said. "He reminds me of the Donald Trump that closed out the 2016 campaign and the 2020 campaign. And remember, both those campaigns, the media polls were telling us that we were going to get killed.
"He's got confidence right now. He knows what is most important to the voters, the issues that they really care about. Things like inflation, crime, national security and, obviously, the border. … What you're seeing right now is Donald Trump clearly has the wind at his back. And when we look at those all-important — while there [aren't] a lot of undecided voters — when we do look at those undecided voters, Donald Trump has a clear advantage with them, too."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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