Vice President Kamala Harris has reversed Donald Trump‘s former significant lead in two attributes on which President Joe Biden was seriously lagging before he dropped out of the presidential race, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted between August 9 and 13 by Langer Research Associates for ABC News and The Washington Post, revealed that the majority of Americans now see Harris as more physically able to serve as president than Trump.
When asked who was in better physical health to serve, Harris had 30-point lead, with 56 percent of respondents choosing her and only 26 percent choosing Trump. The poll surveyed 2,336 adults and had a margin of error of +/- two percentage points.
This marks a dramatic shift from the previous month when Trump held a 31-point lead over Biden on the same attribute.
Additionally, Harris led Trump by 9 percentage points (46 percent-37 percent) in being perceived as having the mental sharpness necessary for the presidency.
This surge for Harris effectively erases the 30-point lead Trump held over Biden in July.
Newsweek has contacted Harris and Trump’s campaigns for comment via email outside of business hours.
Biden dropped out of the race for the White House and endorsed Harris on July 21, after facing mounting calls to step aside when his first debate against Trump drew criticism for his age and apparent mental and physical frailness.
At 81, Biden is the oldest U.S. president in history, and if elected, Trump, at 78, will overtake Biden as the oldest by the end of his term. Harris, meanwhile, is 59, and will be 60 by the time of the election.
The survey shows that the majority of respondents think Harris is physically healthier than Trump.
Trump is well known for eating lots of fast food and drinking 12 cans of Diet Coke a day. His 2020 White House medical examination reported that he was obese and had elevated blood-pressure, despite remaining otherwise healthy.
Harris, meanwhile, told Barack Obama in 2020 that she works out every day.
In relation to mental sharpness, Trump has faced criticism for his rambling, sometimes incoherent speeches, which have included him stumbling over phrases, repeatedly mentioning fictional serial killer ” the late, great Hannibal Lecter,” in connection to illegal immigration, which some critics speculate may be because he is conflating asylum-seekers with mental-health centers, and in June, going on an bizarre rant involving a hypothetical about sharks, boats, and batteries.
Trump has attacked Harris as having an “extremely low IQ,” while other conservatives have attacked her for being unable to speak unscripted without descending into ” word salad.” However, this poll suggests more voters think she is mentally sharper than Trump.
In broader polling trends, Trump had been leading Biden in the seven most competitive swing states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona, as well as making gains in traditionally Democratic-leaning states like Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Virginia, positioning him as the strong favorite to take the White House.
However, the momentum has shifted since Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, and she is now strongly ahead in all Democrat-leaning states as well as leading in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and Arizona, with Trump currently leading in Georgia, and North Carolina.
Harris has generated massive fundraising and a surge of excitement to match her moving the dial for the Democrats‘ polling comeback.
