Debate Drama: Trump Claims Best Performance, But Viewers Favor Harris

About an hour after the debate ended, Trump appeared in the press room, immediately surrounded by the media.

He repeatedly claimed that this was his best debate performance, saying it was even better than the one against Biden. He projected an attitude of going from one victory to an even bigger one, though not many seemed convinced in the room.

Before Trump arrived, his advisers had insisted that he had committed to participating in the next debate on September 25th, hosted by NBC. However, Trump's stance was more uncertain tonight, despite having pushed for a second debate with Harris.

"Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate," her campaign team posted on X. "What about Donald Trump?"

When asked about it, Trump said he would "think about it," adding that:

"She wants a second debate because she lost badly tonight."

What is confirmed, though, is that on October 1st, the vice-presidential candidates will debate at Columbia University in New York.

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A CNN poll conducted by SSRS after the debate showed that among registered voters who watched the debate:

63% felt Harris performed better

37% favored Trump

Before the debate, voters were evenly split in their expectations:

50% thought Harris would do better

50% believed Trump would perform stronger

It’s important to note that this poll only reflects the opinions of those who watched the debate and not the entire electorate. Among those surveyed, there was a 6% higher proportion of Republican-leaning voters than Democrats, making the audience slightly more Republican-leaning than the overall group of registered voters by about 4%.

This is a shift from June when, among those who watched the Trump vs. Biden debate:

67% thought Trump outperformed Biden

33% thought Biden did better

In both 2020 and 2016, debate audiences generally believed Biden and Hillary Clinton outperformed Trump.