More than half of Americans believe Vice President Harris won last week’s presidential debate against former President Trump, according to a new poll.
An ABC/Ipsos poll, released Sunday, found 58 percent of Americans chose Harris as the winner of the debate, while 36 percent picked Trump.
Pollsters noted this is a reverse from the June debate between Trump and President Biden, during which 66 percent of Americans chose the former president as the winner and 28 percent picked Biden.
The poll was taken in the three days following the debate, where Trump and Harris clashed for the first, and possibly only, time on the national stage.
The debate also boosted Harris’s favorability ratings with voters, the poll found. About 37 percent of Americans said the debate made them feel more favorably towards her, while 23 percent said it made them feel less favorably. About 38 percent said it made no difference.
As for Trump, 30 percent said the debate made them view him less favorably, while 17 percent said it made them see him as more favorable. About 50 percent said it made no difference.
During the forum, the former president seemed visibly irritated and refused to look at his Democratic rival at many points. He was also visibly angry at times, suggesting the vice president got under his skin.
Various political pundits and the Wall Street Journal editorial board have argued Harris was the “winner” of the debate. Trump said he believes it was his “best debate ever.”
While Trump appeared rattled during much of the debate, Harris delivered a consistently confident performance in contrast. She also attempted to position herself as a new generational leader, stating, “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump.”
The ABC News/Ipsos poll, produced by Langer Research Associates, was conducted Sept. 11-13 among a random national sample of 3,276 adults. It has a margin of sampling error of 2 percentage points.
