Politics

Majority of presidential debate watchers say Trump beat Biden: poll

By
Social Links for Emily Crane
Published June 28, 2024, 9:00 a.m. ET

A majority of registered voters who tuned in to watch the first 2024 presidential debate believe former President Donald Trump beat President Biden hands down, a new flash poll released Friday shows.

Sixty-seven percent of those polled said Trump, 78, turned in a better performance during Thursday night’s debate, while just 33% believe 81-year-old Biden was the clear winner, according to the CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Most debate watchers (57%) also came away with no real confidence in Biden’s ability to lead the country compared to his Republican rival’s ability (44%), the poll found.

Sixty-seven percent of those polled said Trump, 76, turned in a better performance during Thursday night's debate, according to the CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
Sixty-seven percent of those polled said Trump, 78, turned in a better performance during Thursday night’s debate, according to the CNN poll conducted by SSRS. AFP via Getty Images

More concerningly, the 54% of Democratic debate watchers who had expressed a lot of confidence in Biden’s ability to lead prior to the face-off dropped to just 39% in the aftermath.

Meanwhile, 69% of Republicans who tuned in to watch the bout said they had a lot of confidence in Trump post-debate compared to the 73% who held the same opinion previously.

Of the GOPers polled, 85% said Trump did more to address concerns about his ability to be president.

In comparison, just 53% of Democrats believe Biden did a better job than his rival at addressing those concerns. 

Most debate watchers (57%) also came away with no real confidence in Biden's ability to lead the country compared to his Republican rival's ability (44%), the poll found.
Most debate watchers (57%) also came away with no real confidence in Biden’s ability to lead the country compared to his Republican rival’s ability (44%), the poll found. Getty Images

Still, 81% of the debate watchers said the Biden-vs.-Trump matchup had no effect on whom they’d pick for president, while 14% said it had made them reconsider.

When it comes to specific issues, more than half (55%) said they think Trump would handle immigration better than Biden (27%).

Trump also had the advantage on the economy (56% to 31%) and foreign policy (47% to 35%), the poll shows.

Biden, however, was more trusted to handle issues like abortion (42% to 34%) and protecting democracy (44% to 38%).

The CNN poll, which only reflected debate watchers who actually tuned in Thursday, was conducted by text message with 565 registered voters.

They were recruited prior to the debate and were selected via a survey of SSRS Opinion Panel members.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.