Lindsey Graham has told Donald Trump what he needs to do to beat Kamala Harris after polls showed the vice president was rapidly catching up with him.
Overall the race is a dead-heat, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll. Nationally, Harris leads Trump by 50 percent to 49 percent among likely voters. In battleground states, the race is now tied at 50 percent each.
Graham, the South Carolina senator, said Trump needs to stick to the issues Harris is weak on, rather than causing controversy over heridentityas a biracial woman.
'The problem I have with Kamala Harris is not her heritage, it's her judgment,' Graham told Fox News Sunday.
'She has been wrong about everything. When she tried to explain what she would do about inflation and an upcoming recession, it made no sense. It's gibberish.'
Lindsey Graham has told Donald Trump what he needs to do to beat Kamala Harris in November after polls showed the vice president catching up with the former president
Graham was questioned about Trump's comments at aNational Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago Wednesday.
Trump told a hostile audience he 'didn't know'Vice President Kamala Harris was black and thought she was 'Indian all the way.'
The former president said Harris 'became a black person' after having promoted her Indian heritage.
Graham, after citing the diversity of his home state, continued to advise Trump to avoid distractions regarding Harris' identity.
'Every day we're talking about her heritage and not her terrible, dangerous liberal record throughout her entire political life. It's a good day for her and a bad day for us,' Graham said.
'So, I would encourage President Trump to prosecute the case against Kamala Harris' bad judgment.'
Graham added that Trump's first term was 'an incredible presidency for national security' and rather than getting distracted, he should talk about issues that are his strongest and Harris' weakest.
'It's important you win to reset a broken border and get the world in good order,' he said. 'The American people are looking to have their problems solved.'
Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator and one of Trump's closest allies in Washington, said that his candidate needs to stick to the issues Harris is weak on, rather than riffing on Harris' identity as a biracial woman
Overall, the race is a dead-heat according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll. Nationally, Harris now leads Trump in the race 50 percent to 49 percent among likely voters. In battleground states, the race is now tied at 50 percent each
'She has been wrong about everything,' Graham said Sunday. 'When she tried to explain what she would do about inflation and an upcoming recession, it made no sense. It's gibberish'
Harris is the first black, female, and South-Asian-heritage vice president, but Trumpsuggested her embrace of black culture was phony.
The drama came with the very first question when he was asked about some of his past comments attacking black journalists and lawmakers, and his meeting with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago.
After tearing into his opening questioner on a panel, Trump took on Harris.
He said: 'She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black. So I don't know, is she Indian or is she black?'
He went on: 'And you know what, I respect either one but she obviously doesn't. Because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a black person. I think somebody should look into that.'
Later, Trump added on Truth Social: 'Crazy Kamala is saying she's Indian, not black. This is a big deal. Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity!'
It came a day after Harris attended a rally in Atlanta with prominent black lawmakers and cheering supporters.
Trump has been making an intensive effort to secure black votes and having some success.
Donald Trump's interview withABC's Rachel Scott, FOX News' Harris Faulkner and Semafor's Nadia Goba got off to a tense start
He staged a campaign event in the Bronx and has featured 'Blacks for Trump' supporters at his rallies.
Harris has seen a jump in the polls after getting a burst of publicity by stepping in as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in lieu of Joe Biden, 81.
While the two major party nominees are now in a statistical tie, the landscape was much different forDemocratsjust two weeks ago when the polling showed Trump with a five point lead over Biden before he exited the race.
The July poll also showed Trump with a three point lead in a hypothetical matchup against Harris, but the vice president appears to have wiped out his advantage since taking over the top of the ticket.
When third party candidates are factored in, Harris leads Trump 49 to 47 percent among likely voters.
The shift comes as Democrats have appeared to close the enthusiasm gap with the shake up at the top of the Democratic ticket. The number of Democrats who say they will 'definitely vote' has reached its highest point this year to date, the poll found.
Harris appears to have a boost when it comes to black voters and women from when Biden was still in the race.
Seventy-four percent of black registered voters said they will definitely vote, the poll found. That's up from 58 percent who said the same thing in mid-July when Biden was the nominee.
Harris with Biden on March 26 in North Carolina. 64 percent of registered voters said Harris and Biden are mostly the same on policy while 18 percent said they are exactly the same
When it comes to the gender gap, Trump leads Harris among men 54 percent to 45 percent, but when it comes to women the numbers are reversed: Harris leads 54 percent to 45 percent.
Voters view Harris as more energetic, focused and competent. Trump leads among voters when it comes to being viewed as tough and effective.
When it comes to cognitive health, Trump, 78, no longer has the advantage he did when facing Biden. 51 percent of registered voters say he does but 49 percent say he does not. 64 percent of voters believe Harris has the cognitive health. Only 36 percent say she does not.
When it comes to the crucial battleground states,the races across all seven are within the margin of error.
According to the CBS News poll, Harris and Trump are now tied in Arizona at 49 percent, Michigan at 48 percent, and Pennsylvania at 50 percent.
Trump leads Harris in Georgia and North Carolina among likely voters 50 percent to 47 percent and in Wisconsin 50 percent to 49 percent.Harris now leads in Nevada 50 percent to Trump's 48 percent.
Despite the shake up at the top of the Democratic ticket and the enthusiasm boost, voters noticeably don't see Harris all that different from Biden when it comes to policy.
Sixty-four percent of registered voters said Harris and Biden are mostly the came on policy while 18 percent said they are entirely the same. Only 18 percent viewed them as mostly or entirely different.
The Trump campaign pushed back on the shift in polling on Sunday afternoon.
They argued in a memo that the shift was due to a methodological decision allowing ideology to change significantly. The memo claimed if not for that, Biden would lead 51 percent to 49 percent.
