Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? Latest poll updates

In less than 57 days, Vice President Kamala Harris will go head-to-head with Donald Trump as Americans cast their votes in the 2024 election.

Both candidates are now gearing up for Tuesday night’s presidential debate in Philadelphia, the first since President Joe Biden stepped down from the Democratic ticket in July.

The latest New York Times poll shows Trump scraping into the lead, after weeks of building momentum for Harris — though neither candidate has a clear advantage over the other at this stage.

So how will Harris actually fare against Trump in November?

Harris has a 2.8-point lead over Trump in the latest average of national polls, collated by FiveThirtyEight. On average, Harris has been marginally ahead of Trump in national polls.

Yet, a new poll from New York Times/Siena College found that former president Trump is leading Harris by a slim +1-point margin, at 48 percent to 47 percent.

The national poll of 1,695 likely voters, from September 3 to 6, is largely unchanged from the same results in late July — which may be surprising, considering the overall increase in support for Harris in most other polls.

It may be that the polls are settling to a new normal — one that has Trump and Harris in a dead heat.

So why may that be? While Trump has the advantage of three candidacies and one presidency, Harris has had little time to define her policy views in the eyes of the public.

This same poll shows that nearly a third of voters (28 percent) feel they need to learn more about Harris, compared to 9 percent who would say the same about Trump.

Trump is also more trusted on several key policy issues, while Harris is considered “too liberal or progressive” by 47 percent of likely voters.

The gender divide only