Harris' visit to the border and economic discourse garner attention, as concerning indicators surface for her campaign
The proportion of Americans picking up anything about Harris lessened each week since her debate with ex-President Donald Trump in early September, and simultaneously, the negativity in how Americans describe their encounters with her increased, reaching an all-time low in her campaign in recent results.
Examining what individuals claim to have noticed about Harris, "lie" has cropped up consistently as a leading term linked with her. In the latest data, it ranked fourth, following "border," "polls," and "campaign." In the previous week's data, it ranked sixth, and during the week of the ABC News presidential debate, it ranked second, below 12th in earlier stages and 20th prior to the Democratic convention in August.
The survey, carried out September 27-30 by SSRS and Verasight for research groups from CNN, Georgetown University, and the University of Michigan, assesses what Americans state they've recently encountered, read, or seen about Harris and Trump.
The proportion of Americans mentioning phrases such as "lie" or "liar" when asked about their encounters with Harris remains modest — just 6% in the latest data, compared with 15% citing something related to immigration, for example — but it has grown over time, rising from 3% or less prior to the Democratic convention to reach a peak of 9% shortly after the debate.
One respondent from the latest survey wrote, "Kamala says nothing. She uses a bunch of nonsensical words. She claims she'll close the border, but that's a lie to get elected. Everything she promises are lies."
The emphasis on immigration (mentioned by 15% in relation to Harris) and the economy (mentioned by 13%) in the latest data reveals a significant shift in responses about Harris, following her campaign's efforts to focus attention on these topics with a visit to the southern border in Arizona and an economic policy speech in Pittsburgh. This marks the first time in the survey that multiple policy-related topics have landed in the top five for Harris, and the most recent data saw the most mentions for immigration-related phrases in relation to her campaign since she joined the race in late July.
Another respondent wrote, "I've watched her speeches and appreciated her clear explanation of her policies and positions on various things. Her concern for all and her ability to concretely point to solutions to problems is a stark contrast to Donald Trump."
On Trump's side, the attempts on his life continue to command public attention, while immigration has diminished slightly and his meeting last month with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky captured attention.
"He met with Zelensky and showed little enthusiasm for helping Ukraine," one respondent wrote.
Responses labeling the former president a liar remain persistently close to the top of his list. About 8% in the latest data utilize the word "lie" or "liar" in relation to Trump. This figure has frequently been in the high single digits as a share of topics about Trump since the survey's inception in June, dipping below that at times, including around the first assassination attempt against the former president and the Republican National Convention.
Although responses about Harris are generally less negative in tone than those about Trump, a noticeable decline in overall sentiment in the Harris responses has been observed, while Trump's numbers have slightly rebounded following a post-debate drop. For Harris, the negative shift is evident across parties, with sentiments expressed by Democrats, Republicans, and independents all tilting slightly more negative in the new data than in the previous week. For Trump, though, sentiment has held steady among Republicans, while shifting slightly less negative than the previous survey among independents and Democrats.
The latest poll found that just under two-thirds of Americans (64%) reported finding something about Harris, compared with 68% who said the same about Trump. It marks the fourth straight week in which more people reported hearing about Trump than they did about Harris, and it represents a significant drop from the previous week's shares stating they'd heard about each candidate (Trump down 7 points, Harris down 5).
The overall level of attention to the presidential candidates now is lower than it was at this point in previous cycles, though that may be attributable to debate timing. In 2020, for example, more than 8 in 10 Americans reported hearing news about Trump and Joe Biden in the same week of that campaign, but a presidential debate was held on September 29. In 2016, there was a mid-September decline in attention ahead of that year's first debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton, held on September 26.
"It has been relatively quiet this week," one respondent to the latest survey wrote when asked about Trump. "I haven't heard of anything."
CNN's Ariel Edwards-Levy contributed to this report.
In the survey, the use of the word "lie" or "liar" towards Kamala Harris when discussing encounters with her has increased over time, reaching 6% in the latest data, a significant rise from the 3% before the Democratic convention. Despite this, her overall encounters with Americans are still less negative than those with former President Donald Trump, who consistently has responses labeling him a liar.
