Former President Donald Trump has improved his support among female voters over the past month, although Vice President Kamala Harris still holds the lead among the key voter demographic, according to polling by Quinnipiac University.
In the pollster’s latest survey, conducted from September 19 to September 22, 53 percent of likely female voters said they would back Harris if the 2024 presidential election were held today. Trump trailed behind by 12 percentage points, earning 41 percent of women voters’ support.
The gap is an improvement for the former president, who in the same survey conducted from August 23 to August 27 trailed his Democratic opponent by 21 points (58 percent to 37 percent). Both polls from Quinnipiac are based on the responses of over 1,600 likely voters and have a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.
Trump has struggled to rally female voters, as reproductive health care remains a top priority for many Americans heading into November. During a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Monday, the former president promised to protect women and said that they wouldn’t be “thinking about abortion” if he gets reelected in November.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on September 23 in Indiana, Pennsylvania. One pollster found that Trump has improved among female voters over the past month, although Vice President Kamala Harris still holds the lead among the key voting bloc.
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“I always thought women liked me,” Trump told supporters. “I never thought I had a problem. But the fake news keeps saying women don’t like me. I don’t believe it.”
“Because I am your protector,” Trump added later. “I want to be your protector. As president, I have to be your protector.”
Polling by The Economist/YouGov shows that Harris’ lead among women voters took a dip right before the September 10 presidential debate but that the vice president has since made up any lost ground.
In a poll conducted from August 25 to August 27, the vice president was ahead 11 points among women (51 percent to 40 percent), although that lead dropped to 4 points (48 percent to 44 percent) roughly a week later in a poll conducted from September 1 to September 3.
In The Economist/YouGov’s latest polling, which was collected from September 15 to September 17, Harris improved among the voting bloc, leading Trump 50 percent to 42 percent among women. All of the surveys included responses of at least 1,500 U.S. adult citizens.
The latest polling from America’s top pollster, The New York Times and Siena College, showed Harris ahead by 12 percentage points among women (54 percent to 42 percent), based on the responses of 2,437 likely voters, from September 11 to September 16.
Harris has made protecting abortion rights a key tenet of her campaign, including a vow to restore federal protections for the women’s health procedure if elected in November.
Some experts have predicted that the November election could see one of the largest gender gaps in U.S. history. Polling has shown that the divide between female and male voters under 30 is continuing to grow as well. In the latest Harvard Institute of Politics survey, Harris led among young women by 47 points (70 percent to 23 percent). In the same poll, she held a 17-point lead among young men.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign via email for additional comment on Tuesday.
