A trusted polling analysis website posted some good news for former President Donald Trump on Friday, showing that, as of right now, he is headed for a comfortable electoral college victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Tom Bevan, the co-founder and president of RealClearPolitics, cited the average polling from several surveys published this week to determine that Trump is on pace to win 287 electoral votes while Harris is at 251. In order to win the presidency, 270 electoral votes are required.
“Current RCP No-Toss Up Electoral map: Harris 251, Trump 287. Pennsylvania gets her to 270. Without it, she’d need to win two more states – one of which would have to be GA or NC. Winning AZ+NV would leave her at 268,” Bevan wrote on X, along with a U.S. map graphic showing the breakdown.
It should be noted that RCP’s polling average had Trump ahead of then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 and then-nominee Joe Biden ahead of Trump in 2020. The percentages that both candidates won at the time were within the margins predicted by the site.
Meanwhile, Trump has confirmed he will participate in a one-on-one debate with Harris, scheduled for September 10 on ABC.
Trump announced his acceptance at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago Club on Thursday. Harris has also confirmed her participation, making this the first debate between the two candidates since President Joe Biden called it quits last month following a dismal debate performance of his own.
Initially, Trump eagerly anticipated his second debate with Biden on ABC, which he readily accepted in May. But he hinted he could opt to skip it in comments earlier this month after Biden essentially passed the torch to his vice president, though she got blown out of the Democratic primaries in 2020 and Biden received all the primary votes this year.
ABC News announced that David Muir and Linsey Davis will serve as moderators for the upcoming debate.
“I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump said during his press conference. “We have spoken to the heads of the network, and it’s all been confirmed, other than some fairly minor details. Audience, some location, which city would we put it into, but all things that will be settled very easily, very, I think it will be very easy. The other side has to agree to the terms. They may or may not agree.”
Trump also took aim at Harris, especially her failed record as ‘border czar’: “I don’t know if they’re going to agree. She hasn’t done an interview. She can’t do an interview. She’s barely competent, and she can’t do an interview. But I look forward to the debates, because I think we have to set the record straight. Why is it that millions of people were allowed to come into our country from prisons, from jails, from mental institutions, insane asylums, even insane prisons.”
Harris took a few questions from reporters following a Michigan campaign event on Thursday. She said her team is working out a date for her to hold a full-blown press conference, which would be her first since Biden essentially anointed her the party’s nominee.
An insider with Harris’s team stated on Thursday night that the vice president is not against having more debates, according to ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang. The insider claims that those discussions are “contingent on Trump showing up” on September 10, which he is planning on doing.
