Trump Leads In Arizona, Pennsylvania, Harris Ahead In Michigan As Polls Show Tight Race For

Ahead of the crucial presidential election in November, the Republican nominee Donald Trump is leading against his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania, according to a new Rasmussen poll.

In a survey conducted between August 13-17, the right-leaning pollster found Trump leading by 1 point in the head-to-head race in the US state of Pennsylvania, 47% to 46%. The same survey indicates that Vice President Kamala Harris is leading in Michigan.

An Emerson poll, conducted August 13-14 for RealClearPennsylvania with 1,000 likely voters, also shows Trump leading by 1 point in a head-to-head matchup with Harris. However, no clear favorite has emerged in swing state polls and recent surveys show that most battleground states remain closely contested.

On Sunday, Harris indirectly criticised the former US President, suggesting her opponent in the Nov. 5 election was a “coward” whose politics focused on putting down rivals. The remarks came in a campaign appearance in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania with running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, before Harris heads to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which kicks off Monday.

“Over the last several years there’s been this kind of perversion that has taken place, I think, which is to suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down. When what we know is the real and true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up,” Harris told a crowd of supporters. “Anybody who’s about beating down other people is a coward.”

Opinion polls have shown Harris bringing fresh energy to the campaign and closing the gap with former President Trump both nationally and in many of the eight highly competitive states including Pennsylvania that will play a decisive role in picking Democratic President Joe Biden’s successor. Harris, who is Black and has Asian heritage, will be the first woman president if she wins in November.

She said that she was nearly done writing the speech she will deliver when she accepts the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday. Meanwhile, Trump on Saturday said he believed she would be easier to beat than Biden, 81, who dropped out last month under pressure from his own party after a disastrous debate against Trump. Pennsylvania was one of three Rust Belt states, along with Wisconsin and Michigan, that helped power Republican Trump’s upset victory in the 2016 election.

(With agency inputs)