On Thursday, Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reportedly expressed her “nervousness” regarding polls that depict Vice President Kamala Harris as having a significant advantage over former President Donald Trump in the Great Lakes State.
Whitmer referenced a CNN poll of battleground states that was released earlier this week, which was highly favorable to Harris in Michigan and Wisconsin, during her speech at the Texas Tribune Festival.
The poll indicates that Harris maintains a 48% to 43% advantage over Trump in Michigan and a 50% to 44% lead over Trump in Wisconsin.
“It makes me nervous to see any poll that says there’s a five-point lead for Kamala Harris in Michigan now. It’s just not true. It’s gonna be a very close race. I believe we can win it. And I believe we wlll, but it’s gonna be very close.” Whitmer said.
Whitmer erroneously asserted that the CNN poll did not consider independent and third-party candidates.
“In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump by 11,000 votes. Jill Stein was also on our ballot and earned more than 11,000 votes,” Whitmer said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has withdrawn from the race, Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein were all included in the most recent CNN poll.
In Michigan, none of them achieved a polling percentage exceeding 4%.
Despite postponing his campaign, Kennedy has maintained the highest polling numbers among independent and third-party candidates in Michigan.
Jocelyn Benson, the Secretary of State of Michigan, stated late last month that Kennedy was required to remain on the Michigan ballot despite withdrawing from the election.
Nevertheless, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that Kennedy’s name should be omitted from the Michigan ballot.
North Carolina judges also ruled in Kennedy’s favor, removing his name from the ballot. Last month, the independent candidate expressed his support for Trump and declared his intention to eliminate his name from ballots in battleground states where he could potentially serve as a “spoiler.”
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