Based on the first batches of polls released in the day following Tuesday night's presidential debate, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris appears to have outperformed Donald Trump in the eyes of viewers, who totaled over 57.75 million last night.
In three polls so far collected by the polling aggregation site 538, a majority of people who watched the debate said that Harris had won. On average, among the polls conducted by CNN, YouGov and SoCal Strategies which 538 cited, 57 percent of respondents said that Harris won, compared to 34 percent who favored Trump. Snap polls released in the debate’s immediate aftermath fell broadly in the same way.
(In an interview following the debate, however, Trump told CNN that his performance had earned him 92, 86, and 77 percent approval or preference ratings in three polls provided to him. He did not cite the polls to which he was referring.)
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The early results align with what has seemed to be the general consensus among political pundits: that Harris outdid Trump on the debate stage.
Trump and his team have maintained, though, that the debate’s moderators were unfairly biased against him—among other complaints.
The polling data broadly supports the response of focus groups interviewed on air soon after the debate. A panel of undecided Pennsylvanian voters interviewed CNN raised their hands nine to four in favor of Harris (although it’s worth noting that one interviewee seemed confused about the Democratic nominee’s name, referring to her as “Camilla”). On a similar Fox News panel, Harris won the vote 12 to five.
Still, post-debate interviews with specific undecided voters have produced a wide array of responses.
34-year-old Keilah Miller of Wisconsin told The New York Times that although she had voted for Democrats in the past, Tuesday’s debate had pulled her toward Trump.
“Trump’s pitch was a little more convincing,” Miller said. “I guess I’m leaning more on his facts than her vision.”
Ricardo Reyes, 42, of Arizona, meanwhile, told USA Today he thought Harris had the upper hand on stage.
“Kamala is playing Trump pretty well,” Reyes said. “What Trump is trying to do is just throw out fear mongering and divisive rhetoric... I think Kamala has handled it very well.”
