Former President Donald Trump appears to have retaken his lead in polling after an initial surge in support for Vice President Kamala Harris following President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection campaign in July.

Harris has enjoyed a solid month of favorable reporting in most mainstream media outlets — all of which lean to the left on their editorial pages — while Trump’s coverage has been proportionally negative. According to Axios, previous polling by the Cook Political Report published last week showed Harris leading Trump in Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Similarly, a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week found Harris with a narrow lead in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

However, a more recent survey by Navigator Research, published Tuesday, indicates that the race is essentially tied in Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Individually, Trump leads Harris by one percentage point in Arizona (46% to 45%) and by two points in Pennsylvania (46% to 44%), while the other three states are in a dead heat.

The Navigator survey is consistent with the RealClearPolitics Polling average of battleground states, which also includes Nevada and Georgia.

The vice president is performing better in the battleground states than Biden did before he exited the race last month. Prior to Biden’s departure on July 21, Trump had held a lead of over 4 percent across the seven states in the RCP average, with his advantage widening as the announcement approached.

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A co-founder of a major super PAC supporting Harris turned heads on Monday after suggesting that her polling numbers are being overstated.

Reuters reported that Chauncey McLean, president of Future Forward, a super PAC that has raised hundreds of millions to support Harris this election cycle, spoke on Monday at an event in Chicago associated with the Democratic National Convention.

“Our numbers are much less rosy than what you’re seeing in the public,” said McLean, who rarely speaks in public.

According to McLean, Kamala Harris gained a lot of support from young voters of color after Biden withdrew, which has revived Democratic prospects in Sunbelt states like Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina—states that Democrats had largely dismissed in the final days of Biden’s campaign.

“She has multiple paths,” with seven states in play, he said, according to Reuters. He added that voters want more details about her policy positions, according to internal polling. He asserts that voters are not interested in “white papers” or empty platitudes. Instead, they want concrete examples of how Harris might differ from Biden and how she plans to improve their economic situation.

“We have [the race] tight as a tick,” he added.

Meanwhile, CNN contributor and former Obama administration official Van Jones expressed concerns on Monday that despite a month’s worth of fawning mainstream media coverage and avoiding a former press conference, the best Harris has done is remain essentially tied with former President Donald Trump in states they both need to win.

“We don’t wanna be tied. I don’t like being tied with Donald Trump because we’ve had now 20 plus days of positive press. He’s been falling down the stairs, slipping on banana peels and poking himself in the eyeball. We should not be tied. We want to pull ahead,” Jones said. “That’s our opportunity this week.”

Former Trump advisor David Urban said Jones made a crucial point that despite Harris’ campaign being “flawless” thus far, the campaign is still close.

“That’s scary,” Jones responded. “That’s scary. We gotta go.”

“They’re doing the best they can, and it’s tied. That’s really important,” Urban asserted.

According to a Monday Media Research Center study, Harris and her running mate received “82% positive press” while Trump and his running mate were subjected to “90% negative coverage” on ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News evening broadcasts from July 21 to August 17.

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