- Fifty-two percent of registered voters in swing states said they did not trust Harris to assume the duties of the president
- Harris spent the first part of 2024 reassuring voters that she was ready to become president if Biden could not fulfill his duties
- The old ages of both Trump and Biden are generating more interest among voters in who will become vice president
According to a new poll from Bloomberg/Morning Consult, a majority of Americans in swing states do not trust Kamala Harris to become president of the United States.
Fifty-two percent of respondents said they did not trust Harris to assume the responsibilities of the presidency, while 44 percent said they did trust her. Four percent indicate that they do not know or have an opinion about it.
Harris has repeatedly tried to reassure voters that she is prepared to serve as president of the United States if Biden is forced to resign for any reason.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an event celebrating Black History Month
US Vice President Kamala Harris, flanked by emerging Ghanaian artist Baaba J, right, visits the Vibration studio
“I am ready to serve. There is no doubt about that,” Harris told the Wall Street Journal in February.
But voters in swing states think differently.
Forty-two percent of voters in the poll said they “did not trust Harris at all” as president.
Registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were contacted for the poll.
Harris’s approval rating in the seven swing states remains low, as 40 percent give her a very favorable or somewhat favorable rating, just one point lower than Biden’s approval rating of 41 percent.
The role of vice president appears to be weighing more on voters’ minds in 2024, as Biden will be 81 years old on Election Day and Trump will be 78 years old.
Sixty-two percent of voters said the vice presidential candidate would be more important than previous elections, while 32 percent said it would be no more or less important. Only six percent said this would be less important than in previous elections.
Biden has backed Harris as his vice president despite her rocky start in the role during the first three years of the administration.
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris host a reception in honor of Black History Month
US President Joe Biden (L) and US Vice President Kamala Harris (R) during the Winter Meeting of the Democratic National Committee in Philadelphia
“She’s going to be my running mate, No. 1. And No. 2, I put her in charge. I think she’s doing a good job,” Biden said in January 2022.
In the fall of 2023, several political columnists called on Biden to replace Harris, arguing that his old age and her unpopularity forced him to choose a stronger running mate.
But leading Democrats have kept quiet about their reservations about Harris, unwilling or unable to criticize the nation’s historic first woman and first Black vice president.
The Democratic National Committee organized focus groups to try to understand why voters turned away from Harris, according to CNN.
Some voters in the focus groups said they didn’t like Harris, citing her laughter in particular as criticism. Others wondered whether Biden likes her.
The Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll surveyed 4,969 registered voters in seven swing states and was conducted April 8-15.