Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina, USA, August 14, 2024.
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US business leaders are “in denial” about Vice President Kamala Harris’ widening lead over Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to executive advisor Tina Fordham. Fordham said on Thursday that her clients are still betting big money on Harris’ return.
Fordham, founder of strategy consulting firm Fordham Global Foresight, told CNBC that his client base of institutional investors, board members and C-suite executives continue to see Trump as the more pro-business candidate and preferred choice.
“They still want a President Trump and they still think that’s going to happen,” Fordham told Street Signs.
The latest average of national polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight shows Harris leading Trump by 2.6 percentage points.
That lead has grown steadily since she was announced as the Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month, but Fordham said many business leaders are choosing to ignore the poll’s findings.
“You’re hearing a lot of negativity in the polls,” Fordham said. “A Harris win is definitely not priced in. A lot of Wall Street participants are really hoping to get Trump back in the White House.”
Trump has sought to leverage his existing support from Wall Street after a first term in which he was widely seen as pro-business, while Harris is seen as taking a less clear-cut stance on business.
But Fordham distinguished between the preferences of big tech companies and big banks and those of corporations, the latter groups he said are “flocking” to Harris.
“They are dependent on the phenomenon of American free trade and democracy that has driven global business for the past 30 years,” she said.
Vice President Harris is scheduled to outline her plan in a speech in North Carolina on Friday, giving businesses a better idea of her economic agenda. Expected measures could include the first federal ban on “corporate price gouging” in the food and grocery industry and something similar to Trump’s proposal to eliminate the tip tax.
This comes after President Trump touted his economic policies in battleground states on Wednesday, unveiling plans to cut taxes, reform energy policy and curb inflation.
Still, Fordham said he expects Harris’ plan to be light on details and that presidential candidates will opt for strategic vagueness. “The more details candidates provide, the more voters they’re going to lose,” Fordham said.
