Donald Trump and Kamala Harris exchanged barbs over the airwaves Tuesday as they reached out to the few remaining undecided voters in the final stretch of an election seen as one of the closest in modern US history.
Harris has maintained a lead of two to three points in national polling since mid-August, despite presidential and vice presidential debates, encouraging jobs data, an interest rate cut, escalating international crises, and a devastating hurricane.
“I lose sleep — and have been — over what is at stake in this election,” the Democratic vice president, 59, told radio icon Howard Stern in a 70-minute live interview.
A poll from Siena College and The New York Times out Tuesday highlighted the deadlock, finding Harris ahead of her Republican rival by 49% to 46% — although it had the pair in a dead heat in September.
Poll-watchers expect the stalemate to break only in the last couple of weeks before November 5, as the small fraction of wavering Americans who will decide the election break one way or the other.
The race is even tighter in the seven battleground states seen as likely to determine the election.
The new poll gave Trump the edge on who is the stronger leader but, crucially, revealed that registered voters see Harris as the change candidate.
Both candidates were due to appear on the influential CBS show “60 Minutes” this week and while Harris fulfilled her commitment, Trump backed out, offering shifting explanations for his about-face.
He was mocked by Democrats and responded with a campaign statement demanding the transcript of the Harris interview be released, claiming that it had been “deceptively edited.”
