In a recent CNN flash poll conducted by SSRS, registered voters who watched the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump largely felt that Trump outperformed Biden.
Despite this, most viewers reported that the debate had little to no impact on their choice for president.
A significant majority of debate watchers, 67% to 33%, believed Trump delivered a better performance on Thursday night. This aligns with pre-debate expectations, where voters predicted by 55% to 45% that Trump would outperform Biden. Notably, this is a reversal from 2020, when Biden was seen as outperforming Trump in their debates.
Republican viewers were particularly confident in Trump’s performance, with an overwhelming 96% saying he did a better job. Meanwhile, only 69% of Democratic viewers felt Biden was the night’s winner. Furthermore, 85% of GOP viewers believed Trump effectively addressed concerns about his presidential capabilities, compared to just 53% of Democratic viewers for Biden. A notable 27% of Democratic viewers felt neither candidate alleviated concerns about their abilities.
It is important to note that the poll reflects opinions solely from those who watched the debate, who were slightly more Republican-aligned than the general registered voter population.
The debate had minimal influence on viewers’ voting decisions, with 81% stating it did not affect their choice for president. Only 5% indicated the debate changed their minds, while 14% reconsidered but did not change their decision. Equal proportions of Biden and Trump supporters (about 3%) reported a change in their choice.
Among those undecided or open to changing their vote before the debate, 9% reported a change in choice post-debate, and 25% were reconsidering. Only 3% of Trump supporters and 5% of Biden supporters indicated they might switch to the opposing candidate.
Overall, 48% of debate watchers stated they would only consider voting for Trump, while 40% were firmly in Biden’s camp. A mere 2% were considering both candidates, and 11% were not considering voting for either.
Confidence in Biden’s leadership ability remains low among debate watchers, with 57% expressing no real confidence in him, compared to 44% for Trump. These figures are consistent with pre-debate sentiments. Only 14% expressed high confidence in Biden’s leadership post-debate, a drop from 54% among Democratic viewers before the debate. In contrast, 69% of Republicans maintained high confidence in Trump’s leadership abilities.
Debate watchers generally favored Trump over Biden on several key issues: immigration (55% to 27%), the economy (56% to 31%), and foreign policy (47% to 35%). However, Biden was trusted more on protecting democracy (44% to 38%) and handling abortion (42% to 34%).
When asked who offered better solutions to the country’s problems, 42% of viewers sided with Trump, 27% with Biden, and another 27% felt neither had a better plan. Additionally, 48% believed Trump better addressed concerns about his presidential capabilities, with 23% favoring Biden and 22% seeing neither candidate as satisfactory.
Post-debate, Biden’s favorability among viewers dipped slightly to 31%, down from 37% pre-debate, while Trump’s favorability held steady at 43%.
The CNN flash poll was conducted via text message with 565 registered US voters who watched the debate. Respondents were recruited through the SSRS Opinion Panel, ensuring a nationally representative sample with a margin of error of ±5.5 percentage points.
