Former president Donald Trump holds a small lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in the key swing state of Pennsylvania with less than two weeks until the 2024 presidential election.
What Happened: Both Harris and Trump have been placing a heavy emphasis on Pennsylvania in recent weeks.
To ramp up his efforts to win the state, Trump recently “worked” a short shift at a small-town Pennsylvania McDonald’s Corp MCD location owned by a franchisee.
During the visit, while the restaurant was shut down to the public, Trump handed out orders to customers in the drive-thru and helped at the French fry station.
The event drew plenty of headlines and reviews for the restaurant on Yelp. The question is whether the event will help Trump win over undecided voters in the state.
A new Emerson College poll of voters in Pennsylvania conducted Oct. 21 to Oct. 22 shows Trump with a 49% to 48% lead over Harris. The poll, which was conducted after Trump’s McDonald’s event, showed the former president with the same level of support in the state as two weeks ago.
With undecided voters counted for which candidate they lean towards, Trump leads 51% to 49% in the state, according to the poll.
“There is a significant age divide among voters: voters under 50 favor Harris, 57% to 39%, while voters over 50 break for Trump, 57% to 41%,” Emerson College Polling executive director Spencer Kimball said.
The poll found that 85% of voters in the state decided which candidate they were supporting over a month ago. Of the remaining voters, 7% made up their minds in the past month, 4% made up their minds in the past week and 4% are undecided.
“Voters who decided over a month ago favor Trump 51% to 47%, while voters who made up their mind with the past month/week lean toward Harris 52% to 45%,” Kimball added.
This means that Harris gained more support during the week that Trump spent time working at the Pennsylvania McDonald’s.
Did You Know?
Why It’s Important: Recent swing state polls from Emerson College showed Trump leading in four of the seven battleground states, with Harris leading in one state and the two candidates tied in two states.
The seven swing states in question together represent 93 electoral votes in the 2024 election. Six of the seven states above were won by Biden in the 2020 election with Trump winning North Carolina. Several of the states were flipped from Trump’s win in the 2016 election.
Pennsylvania has the most electoral college votes of the swing states with 19 and could be one of the most important states in the 2024 election.
An X account recently shared an update from election predictor Nate Silver saying Trump has a 50% chance of winning the 2024 election. The model jumps to 93% chance if Trump wins Pennsylvania.
The tweet prompted a response from Tesla CEO Elon Musk who has publicly supported Trump and is now campaigning for him.
“That’s why I’m in Pennsylvania,” Musk previously said.
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