David Axelrod cautions against overconfidence in Kamala Harris: 'It's an Electoral College fight'
Ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod cautioned against overconfidence in Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, saying former President Trump may still be in the lead in the swing states that will decide the race.
"This is still a very competitive race. If the election were today, I‘m not sure who would win, and I think it may well be President Trump because it's an Electoral College fight," Axelrod said.
A recent survey conducted by Ipsos found Trump and Harris are close or effectively tied in seven swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. Harris receives 42% of the vote share in the seven swing states, compared to Trump's 40% and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy's 5%.
"I've said several times here that for a Democrat to win those battleground states they have to have a significant lead in the Electoral College," he said.
"It's good to be enthusiastic. That enthusiasm is really, really important for the Democratic Party, but you have to turn that into energetic action in order to win the election," Axelrod continued.
Hillary Clinton defeated Trump by two points in the national popular vote in 2016 but still lost the Electoral College and the election. In 2020, Biden won by about four points in the popular vote, but Trump still came close to winning the election due to Biden's razor-thin margins in the decisive states of Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia.
Axelrod, who irked Biden's inner circle with his criticisms of the president while he was the nominee, said that Harris' campaign has made rapid and "extraordinary progress" with voters, especially when compared to how the race looked during the Republican National Convention (RNC) last month.
"We were all in Milwaukee a month ago and there was euphoria there and a sense that this race was over, that they were going to win by a landslide, perhaps sweep in big majorities in the House and Senate and things have changed dramatically," he said, referring to the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Approximately 52% of respondents in the swing states said that inflation is the most important issue facing the country, while 32% said immigration is the most pressing matter, per an Ipsos poll conducted between July 31 and Aug. 7.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.