Campaigning on patriotic vibes, Harris touts $540mn fundraising haul

In a memo on Friday, Trump’s pollster Tony Fabrizio wrote that the endorsement is “good news,” claiming that Trump’s internal polling data shows that RFK Jr voters favour the former president in every swing state.

But whether Kennedy’s backers will shift their allegiance to Trump, go for Harris, or stay home on election day is rather unclear.

On aggregate, polls excluding RFK Jr (before he dropped out) showed a similar bump for both Harris and Trump. When Kennedy was removed from the mix, the Democrat gained 1.96 percentage points while Trump’s support increased 1.51 points, according to an FT analysis.

A New York Times/Siena College poll released earlier this month did show that Trump had a slight edge nationally, with 35 per cent of Kennedy supporters saying they would vote for the former president and 34 per cent saying they would back Harris in a head-to-head match-up.

But the survey also showed that Harris gained ground among Kennedy backers before the ex-Democrat dropped out: in July, 48 per cent said they would vote for Trump compared with 23 per cent for the vice-president.

Viewpoints

• Harris is a blank slate on China, and we can’t assume much since “we know very little about her foreign policy philosophy” generally, writes Edward Luce in the latest FT Swamp Notes newsletter. [Available for premium subscribers]

• Politicians in rich countries forget about upward mobility — something the US does well — when they attempt to perform the immigration balancing act, according to Stephen Bush.

• Jen Harris, former National Economic Council member, explains how Kamala Harris’s “we’re not going back” slogan could include a new brand of economics. (NYT)

• Brooke Masters notes that “no matter who wins in November, US watchdogs will almost certainly have to pull in their horns”. [Available premium subscribers]

• History suggests that Elon Musk’s infatuation with Trump will backfire, says Tevi Troy (Politico Magazine)