Rove: Harris trailing Biden, Clinton at this point in campaigns

Republican strategist Karl Rove said Tuesday that Vice President Harris is trailing President Biden and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at this point in her campaign.

“On this day in 2020, Joe Biden was up 7.1 percent above Donald Trump in the Real Clear Politics average. And at this point in 2016, Hillary Clinton was up 6.3 [percent] and as you remember, the election came down to a handful of votes in a handful of states,” he said on Fox News.

“And today, in the Real Clear Politics average, Harris is up over Trump by 1.5 [percent] in the RCP average and 3.5 [percent] in the FiveThirtyEight.com. So this, you know, she’s ahead in both averages, but she’s nowhere near ahead by the numbers that both Biden and at Clinton were, and as we know, Clinton lost, and Biden won by 42,000 votes in three states,” he continued.

Rove also noted these were national averages, but the polling averages of battleground states could be more significant.

“But how is she doing and how is he doing in the battleground states, six or seven battleground states. We have nowhere near — we have a few polls in several states — but we certainly don’t have six or seven or eight polls that would give us an average and therefore give us a better idea of where they actually are,” he added.

Harris has been surging in the polls since announcing her bid for the White House last month after Biden withdrew from the race. She has closed the gap in numerous national polls with Trump and is narrowly leading in a few of them.

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s national polling average shows Harris with a 4-point lead over Trump based on an aggregate of 140 polls. Their updated election forecast shows Harris with a 55 percent chance of defeating Trump in November, which is up from Biden’s 44 percent chance of winning before he left the race on July 21.