Kamala Harris took a five-point lead over Donald Trump in the first national poll conducted after Tuesday’s presidential debate.
The vice president increased her lead from 42 percent to 47 percent according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
But a second assassination attempt on Trump in just two months has raised questions about whether this will lead to another dramatic shift in the race.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle in the bushes at the Trump International Golf Club in Mar-a-Lago, West Palm Beach.
The shooter was found about 300-500 yards from the Republican presidential candidate, who was playing golf between holes five and six.
Donald Trump was the target of another alleged assassination attempt on Sunday. (Pictured: Trump playing golf in 2012)
The two candidates during the presidential debate hosted by ABC News at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia
Routh after his arrest following an alleged assassination attempt against Donald Trump
This comes just two months after a bullet grazed Trump’s ear in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The former president emerged bloodied but still belligerent after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire, killing a member of the crowd.
At the time, the Republican presidential candidate was leading Joe Biden in the polls and many thought after the attack that the White House would now be his.
Trump’s short-lived communications director Anthony Scaramucci told The Rest is Politics US podcast last week: ‘We sat there in July, looked at each other and said, this is going to change the election.
“That photo of him is going to take him to the presidency.”
However, the shocking development had virtually no impact on the polls and some surveys now suggest Harris is currently in a prime position to become the next president of the United States.
However, the Trump campaign has used Sunday’s alleged assassination attempt as a means to rally support.
Ryan Routh, who allegedly tried to shoot Donald Trump at one of his Florida golf courses
Secret Service and Homeland Security agents search Routh’s former home
Law enforcement officers work after reports of shots fired outside the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach on Sunday
The gunman had a scoped AK-style rifle, a GoPro camera and two backpacks hanging from a fence.
In an email sent to his followers, he wrote: “Nothing will stop me. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP” and in a separate message he asked for more money for his campaign.
The suspected gunman, identified as registered Democrat Ryan Wesley Rout, 58, was found unarmed. A backpack, a GoPro camera and an AK-47 rifle were found at the scene, which he had left behind.
Vice President Kamal Harris said she was relieved that no one was hurt in the alleged assassination attempt.
“I’ve been made aware of reports of shots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I’m glad he’s safe,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Violence has no place in the United States.”
The White House also issued a statement, saying that both President Joe Biden and Harris were briefed on the security incident.
“The President and Vice President have been briefed on the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was playing golf,” the White House said.
“They are relieved to know that he is safe. His team will keep them informed regularly.”
According to a New York Times poll, Vice President Harris currently leads Trump by three percentage points nationally.
Trump gestures as he speaks to members of the press in the press room after a presidential debate
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris during the debate on ABC last night
Kamala Harris gives a thumbs-up gesture during a presidential debate with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
But the race is even tighter in key states where neither candidate has a lead of even a percentage point in enough states to win 270 electoral votes.
This comes after Harris was widely considered the winner of last week’s closely contested televised debate, during which the Republican presidential candidate accused immigrants of eating pets and said Democrats wanted to “execute babies” in the ninth month of pregnancy.
Among voters who said they had heard at least something about Tuesday’s debate, 53 percent said Harris won and 24 percent said Trump won, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Harris is currently seen doing well in Wisconsin, Iowa, Virginia, North Carolina, and even Alaska.
While Trump, according to recent polls, is doing well in Georgia and Michigan.
