CNN Hands Trump Two Points, Debt Ceiling Frustration, Durham Report Confusion

Harvard Harris Poll Debrief with Mark Penn and Bob Cusack

Harris Poll Chairman Mark Penn and The Hill Editor in Chief Bob Cusack dissect and interpret findings of the May Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll, conducted May 17-18, 2023, among 2,004 registered voters. ​

Donald Trump now beats Joe Biden by 7 points in a 2024 presidential matchup. Meanwhile half of voters have heard of the Durham report on the FBI’s investigation of Trump and Russia, but they seem confused about its contents, as half mistakenly thought the report said the FBI investigation was well-founded.

TRUMP CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN AFTER CNN TOWN HALL

• Trump now beats Biden in a 2024 general election by 7 points, 47-40.
• Trump stretched his lead in a GOP primary to 58% and Biden stretched his lead in a Democratic primary to 41%.

VOTERS SEEM CONFUSED BY DURHAM REPORT ON FBI’S TRUMP INVESTIGATION

• Half of voters, evenly split across parties, have heard of the Durham report on the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.
• But Americans are confused about the Durham report’s conclusion: half of voters, including 72% of Democrats, believed the report said the FBI’s Trump investigation was well-founded, even though it said the opposite.
• 52% of voters believe the Durham report was a fair examination, although 57% of Democrats said it was fair and 54% of Republicans said it was biased.
• 70% of Democrats still believe Trump worked in concert with Russia to win the presidency and 71% believe the Steele dossier was a true story.

MAJORITY OF VOTERS ACROSS ALL PARTIES WANT STRICTER IMMIGRATION POLICIES

• 71% of voters, split evenly across the parties, have heard of the repeal of Title 42, a COVID-era immigration regulation that allowed the U.S. government to send those who attempted to cross the southern border illegally to Mexico to wait for a court date.
• 54% of voters – including 67% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans – support the repeal of Title 42.
• 53% of voters now think the Biden administration is just trying to enforce immigration laws more humanely, rather than creating an open border (which a majority of voters thought in December).
• But only 38% of voters approve of Biden’s handling of immigration, down 2 points from last month.

VOTERS CONTINUE TO WANT DEBT CEILING NEGOTIATIONS

• 35% of voters, up 6 points from last month, now think Biden has signaled willingness to curb spending in the next year.
• Voters continue to want Democrats to cave and negotiate on the debt ceiling to prevent a default: 57% say so, up 2 points from last month.
• As default looms, 70% of voters, up 6 points from last month, now think default would be a huge issue.