Beneath the surface of a tight presidential race and NBC News’ tied final national poll, the handful of voters who have wavered in recent weeks illustrated the lesser-of-two-evils thinking that could decide the 2024 election.
Vice President Kamala Harris is an “empty vessel,” one voter says. Others worry world leaders won’t respect Harris because she’s a woman. Another voter’s concern: It’s not clear what she stands for besides opposing former President Donald Trump.
But then there are voters who say Trump lacks the character or demeanor a president should have. He’s “very rude” and “lies too much.” And some specifically panned the racist and demeaning rhetoric from Trump allies at last week’s rally at Madison Square Garden, criticizing them for alienating Americans instead of bringing them together.
That’s according to answers from 24 respondents in the newest national NBC News poll, conducted over the last few days, from voters who say they seriously considered voting for Harris or Trump in the last two or three weeks before picking the other option.
It’s an extremely small share of the poll: Only 2% of those who said they would vote for Harris said they seriously considered Trump (and vice versa) in the last few weeks.
But the responses from these voters — who were given the time for extended answers in their own words — shed some light on what’s going into the final analysis of voters torn about who to support in an election that could be decided by thin margins in key battleground states.
For those who considered Harris but ended up backing Trump, much of their reasoning centered on either the economy or frustration with the direction of the Biden administration. There were also concerns about Harris’ gender or that she’d be “weak,” either in actuality or perception.
“I get worried, I think that other countries won’t take her seriously and they would take Trump more seriously,” a New York woman in her mid-to-late 40s said.
A Hispanic man in Missouri who is in his mid-to-late 20s put forward a similar contrast.
“Donald Trump appears to me as a bully, but it is good to have a bully in your corner, especially when they have proven that whatever they are doing is going to lower inflation,” he said.
“Besides this, Kamala Harris seems to be a principled person, though through her interviews, a bit dimwitted,” the poll respondent continued. “She has been in power with Biden and things haven’t been well in the world.”
Other voters derisively mentioned Harris’ laughter, called Trump more “transparent in what he’s looking to do,” and cited their support for Trump economic policies like tariffs and not taxing overtime pay.
For the Harris supporters who briefly, seriously, considered Trump, the former president’s tone and demeanor looms large.
“He’s very rude and I just don’t trust him. He lies too much for one thing,” a white Wisconsin woman over 65 years old said.
Two voters mentioned Trump’s recent rally at Madison Square Garden, where a comedian who spoke before Trump called Puerto Rico “garbage” and others made sexist and other inflammatory comments, as something that turned them off.
Mistakenly attributing the comment about Puerto Ricans to Trump, one Black Hispanic man in Pennsylvania panned Trump.
“The rally in New York City where he called Puerto Ricans trash, I really didn’t like that. I can’t vote for that,” said the man, who is an independent between the ages of 25 and 29, according to his poll response. “Her policies are good for seniors.”
With such a small group of voters undecided after a long campaign, a constellation of issues, sentiments or late-breaking news could hold some sway with these people as they decide how to cast their ballot.
NBC News’ poll also asked about 400 respondents if they had seen, read or heard something over the last few weeks about either candidate that gave them a more or less favorable impression of them.
On Harris, 40% said they’d seen something that made them view her more favorably, while 43% said something made them view her less favorably and 17% said either nothing made a difference or they hadn’t seen anything to change their mind.
Meanwhile, 33% said they saw something that made them view Trump more favorably, while 46% said they saw something that made them view him less favorably and 19% said nothing moved the needle for them.
Again, a handful of voters brought up the rally comments about Puerto Ricans when voters were describing something that made them view Trump more negatively. It was specifically mentioned by six of the 34 people who responded to the open-ended part of the question.
“This whole political rally thing with the comedian was just the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said one Texas woman, age 60-64, who is leaning toward supporting Harris. “I’ve never had any respect for him and it’s hard to forget that he incited a riot that caused American people to attack the Capitol. That, to me, is just the beginning of the end.”
Asked what has made them less favorable to Harris in recent weeks, several voters pointed to her current role in the White House and her ties to President Joe Biden, while others indicated they did not know enough about her plans.
“She’s not distanced herself from Joe Biden. She’s just following the path Joe Biden has been on the past four years,” said one middle-aged Florida man who is leaning toward Trump.
“I wish she was concerned with more on what the country needs,” said a middle-aged Idaho woman who said she is likely supporting a third-party candidate. “I think she is focusing on women’s needs. I think she attacks Trump. I feel that she does not get deep into the problem, like immigration. I feel like she says a bunch of smart words, but I do not get an answer, like with the economy. Her vocabulary is really good, but I do not get an answer.”
And one voter, a woman in Louisiana between the ages of 30 and 34 who remains undecided, shed light on why she remains stuck.
“As far as Kamala, not really sure what she’s done thus far for the country. And as far as Donald Trump, he’s done good for money,” she said.
But, she added, “he’s encouraged violence and racism in the country.”
