Harris tells reporters ‘I very much consider us the underdog’

Vice President Harris told reporters Sunday she considers her campaign the underdog in the election against former President Trump, even as national polling shows her slightly ahead of him.

Harris is leading Trump by 3 points nationally, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday. The poll showed Harris at 51 percent and Trump at 48 percent, with the two tied at 50 percent in the battleground states.

The vice president was asked about the poll Sunday and whether she still considers herself the underdog in the race.

“I very much consider us the underdog. We have a lot of work to do to earn the vote of the American people,” she said.

The vice president added, “That’s why we’re on this bus tour today, and we’re going to be traveling this country as we’ve been, and talking with folks, listening to folks and hopefully earning their votes over the next 79 days.”

Harris and her vice presidential selection, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), as well as their spouses, went on a bus tour in Pennsylvania over the weekend. She then arrived in Chicago late Sunday night, ahead of this week’s Democratic National Convention.

The vice president is set to speak at the convention Thursday to formally accept the Democrats’ nomination.

Her rapid rise in national polls comes just under one month since President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed Harris as his successor.

Harris came under criticism from the Trump campaign earlier this month for declining to take questions from reporters. She said at the time she hoped to sit down for an extended interview before the end of the month.