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By Suzanne Blake
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Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic electoral frontrunner, might be flipping the tables when it comes to voters' trust in former President Donald Trump's economic policies.
While Trump has routinely called into question President Joe Biden's economic stances, Harris has gained ground on the economy the few weeks since she announced her candidacy.
In a Morning Consult poll of nearly 5,000 registered voters, Harris now leads over Trump when it comes to who would better handle housing. Harris also shrunk the gap with Trump on overall handling of the economy, unemployment, taxes and interest rates.
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"Many Americans are looking for a fresh face with new ideas. And Harris is tapping into that," Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of michaelryanmoney.com, told Newsweek.
"In working with clients, I've seen how people feel when they're fed up with their financial situation. They don't just want minor tweaks. They want a whole new approach. That's what I'm seeing when looking at the polling data on Harris."
In a survey from earlier this year, 51 percent of voters said they trusted Trump more to handle the economy, with only 37 percent saying the same about Biden.
After Biden stepped out of the race and Harris announced her candidacy, voters now say they trust Trump more on the economy at 50 percent, with 42 percent trusting Harris more, showing a marked improvement over Biden's ratings.
Harris also saw 46 percent of voters say they trusted her the most on issues of housing, with only 41 percent saying the same about Trump.
Harris also was just 3 percentage points below Trump in voters' views on her she would handle the availability of good jobs and unemployment.
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On tax policy, Harris garnered 42 percent of voters who said she had the best policies, while Trump was a bit further ahead at 47 percent.
Meanwhile, Harris had 39 and 42 percent of voters' support on interest rates and cost of goods compared to Trump's 46 and 47 percent.
Biden's administration has earned criticism from some Americans for its economic policies, largely because of widespread inflation that still remains high despite the Federal Reserve's continuous interest rate hikes.
While inflation is now nearing normal levels, Biden, and in turn Harris, are still getting pushback based on new jobs numbers.
The job market is losing strength, with the U.S. reporting an uptick of just 114,000 jobs, while unemployment climbed to 4.3 percent in July.
This could complicate Harris's bid for presidency, as rising unemployment levels often draw support away from the incumbent administration. Republicans have already latched onto last week's less-than-ideal jobs report as an indication of the Biden/Harris administration's performance.
"This jobs report is one of the worst we have ever seen from the Biden/Harris Administration," said Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri in a statement Friday.
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, said Trump could also be at odds with a sentiment that much of the economic success that took place during his administration was not actually related to his policies.
"I think this latest polling brings to the forefront of this election a question that was consistently asked during the last election cycle in the first Trump Presidency and ultimately played against him: 'How much credit do we give President Trump for the economy during his time in office?'" Beene told Newsweek. "Virtually every metric we measure a healthy economy on did increase, but those gains were building on the already strong economic data coming out of Obama's second term."
Many of the economic wins that occurred under Trump's presidency, like the lower gas prices, were due to the pandemic's impact on traffic and not necessarily bills proposed by the White House, Beene said.
Still, some of the swift improvements in the Democratic candidate's economic policy voter perceptions could be due to the initial excitement around, Beene said.
"These numbers also could just come down to Harris being new to the race and the high levels of excitement that has brought to this election cycle," Beene said. "It's the first time in most voters' lifetimes they've seen something like this happen, and instant polling is showing the results of that."
Harris and Trump could also promote different policies when it comes to the Social Security funding crisis. Earlier this year, analysts estimated the social safety net program would become insolvent by the mid 2030s if nothing changes.
"Harris has been on board with Biden's position to tax more high-income individuals further," Robert Shapiro, a political science professor at Columbia University, told Newsweek. "Trump has just backtracked the party by saying he won't cut Medicare and Social Security, but his credibility here is suspect."
William Hall, a professor of political science and business at Webster University, said Harris's entry into the presidential race has more largely created issues for the Republican party in figuring out a strategy against Harris instead of Biden.
"I believe that former President Trump and the Republican Party in general, have been floundering, in continuing disarray and have appeared to be totally unable to either figure what to do to develop a successful campaign against Harris," Hall told Newsweek.
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