In a recent poll conducted by SSRS for CNN, it was found that most registered voters who watched the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump believe Trump outperformed Biden. The poll revealed that 67% of debate watchers thought Trump had a better performance on Thursday.
Prior to the debate, voters had already predicted that Trump would outperform Biden, with a majority saying they expected Trump to do better. The results of the poll show that Republicans who watched the debate expressed confidence in Trump’s performance, while Democrats were less optimistic about Biden.
A vast majority of GOP debate watchers, 96%, believed Trump did a better job in the debate, compared to 69% of Democratic debate watchers who viewed Biden as the winner. The poll also revealed that Republicans felt Trump did more to address concerns about his ability to handle the presidency, while Democrats were split on whether Biden did enough to allay concerns about his capabilities.
Despite the differing opinions on the debate performance, a majority of registered voters who watched the debate said it had little to no effect on their choice for president. Only 5% reported that the debate had changed their minds about whom to vote for.
The poll’s results are based on the views of debate watchers only and may not be representative of the overall voting public. Debate watchers in the poll were slightly more Republican-leaning than all registered voters nationally.
In terms of leadership abilities, a majority of debate watchers expressed a lack of confidence in Biden’s ability to lead the country. The poll showed that Biden’s favorability slightly decreased following the debate, while Trump’s favorability remained stable.
Overall, the poll findings shed light on the opinions of debate watchers and their perceptions of the candidates’ performances. The CNN poll was conducted with 565 registered US voters who watched the debate, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.
