Republican presidential candidate and former US President Trump delivers a speech at a campaign rally held at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina, the United States, on August 14, 2024.
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US business leaders 'deny' Vice President Kamala Harris' growing lead over Republican presidential nominee Top executive Tina Fordham said Thursday that Donald Trump's clients still have high hopes for the former president's return.
Fordham, founder of strategic advisory firm Fordham Global Foresight, told CNBC that her client base includes institutional investors, board members and senior executives who still view Trump as the more business-friendly candidate and their First choice.
“They still prefer a Trump presidency, they still think it's going to happen,” Fordham told Street Signs.
In the latest national polls, Harris leads Trump by 2.6 percentage points five thirty-eight.
That lead has been rising steadily since she was announced as the Democratic presidential nominee last month after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Still, Fordham said many business leaders chose to ignore the findings.
“I'm seeing a lot of denial in the polls,” Fordham said. “A Harris victory is definitely not priced in. A lot of Wall Street players are really invested in Trump returning to the White House.”
Trump has sought to capitalize on existing support on Wall Street after his first term in office, which is widely viewed as pro-business. Harris' business stance seems less clear.
Fordham, however, distinguishes between the preferences of big tech companies and big banks on the one hand, and the preferences of corporations on the other. The latter, she said, are “flooding” toward a Harris presidency.
“They rely on the American phenomenon of free trade and democracy that has powered global business over the past 30 years,” she said.
Businesses will be able to get a closer look at Harris' economic agenda on Friday when the vice president outlines her plans in a speech in North Carolina. Expected measures include the first-ever federal ban on “corporate price gouging” in the food and grocery industry and the elimination of the tip tax, possibly mirroring Trump's proposal.
Trump was in the battleground state on Wednesday to promote his economic agenda, sharing plans to cut taxes, reform energy policy and reduce inflation.
Still, Fordham said she expected Harris' plan to be light on detail and that the president wanted to opt for strategic ambiguity. “The more details a candidate provides, the more voters they lose,” Fordham said.