Women have lost confidence in Trump's ability to deal with the economy, poll shows

Former President Donald Trump is facing a growing gap with women voters as the crucial voting bloc trusts Vice President Kamala Harris more when it comes to top issues including the economy.

The Democratic presidential nominee has a fifteen point lead over the ex-president among women, new polling from American University found. It has Harris at 54 percent among women nationally while Trump is at 39 percent.

Independent women voters are backing Harris by eighteen points with 50 percent to Trump's 32 percent.

The polling found Harris is gaining trust among women when it comes to the top issues over Trump including on inflation, the economy and abortion.

On inflation, Harris has a fourteen point lead over Trump with 51 percent trusting her to address it versus Trump's 37 percent. On handling the economy, 46 percent trust Harris while 38 percent trust Trump.

The polling shows women are becoming more optimistic about the country's future economic outlook. 

Even though prices are up and inflation as been a financial burden, more than half of women are optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next twelve months. That's up from just forty percent last year.

The presidential race is proving to be razor-thin with just over one month to go before Election Day, but the ex-president's struggles with women are growing more apparent on the campaign trail. 

Even Trump has brought up the challenges he faces at his rallies, complaining recently in Pennsylvania 'I always thought women liked me.' 

He vowed to be a 'protector' of women and claimed under a Trump presidency, women would be 'will be happy, healthy, confident and free.' But women do not appear to be buying it.

'We are poised for the broadest gender gap in modern history in this election and a potentially historic turnout of female voters,' said Betsy Fischer Martin, Executive Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University.

As more women trust Harris on the economy, an issue that Trump has largely been seen as the better candidate on overall in national polls, navigating abortion rights has also put Trump in a tough position.

The ex-president nominated three of the six Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v Wade. Earlier this year, he signaled he would be open to a national abortion ban before more recently insisting it should be decided by states.

Despite the attacks on abortion rights, a strong majority of women believe abortion should be legal and available, the polling found. They also want contraception and fertility treatments to be accessible and affordable. 

Trump attempted to address this when he called for IVF and other fertility treatments to be paid for by the government or completely covered by insurance on the campaign trail. However, he failed to provide any details on how he would go about accomplishing that.

In the current political climate and with so much at stake, more women are engaged in politics than ever before, the polling found. 

'This survey shows women are more engaged than ever, because the stakes are high: nearly half of women surveyed told us this will be the most important election of their lifetime,' said Lindsay Vermeyen, Partner at BSG.

The prospect of having the first woman president is also resonating. A majority of voters insist the country is more open to a woman president than it was eight years ago when Hillary Clinton was the Democratic presidential nominee against Trump.

The overwhelming majority of voters think it's important to elect more women to political office, with six in ten believing the government gets more done with women in office.

With Harris taking over the top of the Democratic presidential ticket and leading the charge, her favorabilities have actually increased among women.

Fifty-five percent now see her in a favorable spotlight ahead of the presidential election. That's up from just 43 percent who held a favorable view of her last year.

Independent women's opinions of the vice president have jumped twenty three points. Fifty-one percent now hold a favorable view of Harris while just 38 percent view her unfavorably. 

Fifty-seven percent of women have an unfavorable view of Donald Trump.