Harris on Trump: 'We've beat him before, and we'll beat him again'

Vice President Harris expressed confidence she and President Biden would win reelection in November regardless of their opponent, even as polls have shown Biden trailing former President Trump and others in key swing states.

"No matter who the Republican nominee is, we're winning," Harris said in an interview with ABC News that aired Tuesday morning.

"If it is Donald Trump, we've beat him before, and we'll beat him again," Harris added. "When you look at, again, all of the issues that are at stake, including our standing in the world, I think that the people of America want more in terms of the outcome of this election and charting the course for the future of our country."

Harris spoke during a trip to South Carolina for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, where she spoke about the threats posed by "extremists" to basic rights across the country, citing book bans, abortion restrictions and gun violence.

Trump is the dominant front-runner in the Republican primary, romping to victory in the Iowa caucuses on Monday. He is leading in the polls in other early primary states, including New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Polling shows a close match-up between the former president and Biden in a hypothetical rematch, with averages from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ giving Trump a 1-point lead nationally. Biden trails former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley by roughly 3 percentage points.

Polling out of swing states has been a mixed bag for Biden and Harris. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed Biden leading Trump in Pennsylvania, but recent polls out of Michigan and Georgia — both states Biden won in 2020 — have the president trailing Trump.

The Biden campaign has argued it is too early in the race to rely on polling. Officials have suggested once it is clear who the GOP nominee is, voters will pay more attention to the potential consequences of a Republican in the White House.