Americans give Harris advantage on honesty and discipline, Trump slightly stronger on immigration: poll

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FILE-Side-by-side photo of Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. (Photo courtesy of FOX Newsedge)

A new poll finds that Vice President Kamala Harris has an advantage over Donald Trump on several leadership traits like honesty and discipline, but Americans are slightly more likely to trust the former president on the economy and immigration.

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows that almost half of respondents say that "committed to democracy" and "disciplined" are qualities that describe Harris, compared to 3 in 10 who say these characteristics best describe Trump.

Roughly 4 in 10 people say the vice president is someone who "cares about people like you" while 3 in 10 say that about Trump. Meanwhile, 4 in 10 say "honest" better describes Harris and 24% state that trait better describes Trump.

Poll shows Trump has advantage on economy and immigration issues

Two of the big issues heading into the election are economy and immigration, and 45% of respondents say Trump can better manage the economy, compared to 38% who favor Harris.

Regarding immigration, the poll notes that independents are about twice as likely to trust Trump over Harris on economic issues, and they give him the advantage on immigration too.

Harris has advantage with managing abortion and health care

Americans favor Kamala Harris over Donald Trump on managing issues related to abortion policy, health care, and matters related to race and racial inequality.

About half of adults say the vice president would do a better job than the Republican presidential candidate handling each of those issues, compared with 3 in 10 for Trump.

The AP poll shows that Harris is strong among Democrats, independents, and women on the issue of abortion policy. Democrats and independents give her the edge on health care, as well as on issues of race and racial inequality. Two-thirds of Black Americans say Harris is the candidate they trust more on that issue, as well as half of Hispanic adults and white adults.

But Trump has low grades among Republicans on these issues, with 6 in 10 stating that they trust Trump over Harris on these issues.

However, Harris did not receive a favorable rating in the poll when it comes to managing the war in Gaza. According to the poll, only 6 in 10 Democrats trust Harris over Trump to do a better job overseeing the ongoing war, while one-quarter of Democrats say they trust neither Trump nor Harris on this topic.

The Source

Information for this story was provided by an Associated Press poll of 1,164 adults conducted August 8-12, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to represent the U.S. population. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.