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Axios

Axios|SurveyMonkey poll: First Presidential Debate

Axios|SurveyMonkey poll: First Presidential Debate

The negativity of the first presidential debate got a similar reaction from American voters, according to a new Axios|SurveyMonkey poll conducted after the acrimonious showdown in Cleveland. 

Fully 55% of all voters were “disappointed” by the debate, and another 24% were downright “angry.” The negative views are broadly shared by supporters of both major party candidates, but voters backing President Trump were far more apt than former vice president Joe Biden’s to be “excited” (19% vs. 5%) or “relieved” (14% vs. 7%). 

At the same time, the president fares worse relative to expectations. Three times as many voters indicated Trump performed worse than expected compared with those who shared that view of Biden (39% vs. 13%). 

Overall, two-thirds of survey respondents said they tuned into all or some of Tuesday’s debate. 

In general, Democrats were largely satisfied with Biden’s performance at the debate: 38% say he did better than expected, 56% about as expected, and just 5% say he did worse than expected. 

View the full results by partisanship below.
Read more about our polling methodology here

Survey dates: 

Sample size: 2,618

  • Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Joe Biden?

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,6181,2611,320
    Net Favorable
    44%
    38%
    50%
    Strongly favorable
    20%
    16%
    23%
    Somewhat favorable
    25%
    22%
    27%
    Net Unfavorable
    45%
    53%
    37%
    Somewhat unfavorable
    13%
    15%
    12%
    Strongly unfavorable
    31%
    38%
    25%
    Don't know enough to say
    9%
    7%
    10%
    No answer
    2%
    2%
    3%
    Question wording: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Joe Biden?
    Survey dates: 
  • Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Donald Trump?

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,6181,2611,320
    Net Favorable
    40%
    47%
    33%
    Strongly favorable
    25%
    31%
    21%
    Somewhat favorable
    14%
    17%
    12%
    Net Unfavorable
    53%
    46%
    59%
    Somewhat unfavorable
    7%
    7%
    7%
    Strongly unfavorable
    46%
    39%
    52%
    Don't know enough to say
    4%
    5%
    4%
    No answer
    3%
    2%
    3%
    Question wording: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Donald Trump?
    Survey dates: 
  • Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Mike Pence?

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,6181,2611,320
    Net Favorable
    38%
    47%
    30%
    Strongly favorable
    23%
    29%
    19%
    Somewhat favorable
    15%
    18%
    12%
    Net Unfavorable
    41%
    34%
    47%
    Somewhat unfavorable
    11%
    9%
    12%
    Strongly unfavorable
    30%
    25%
    35%
    Don't know enough to say
    18%
    17%
    19%
    No answer
    3%
    2%
    4%
    Question wording: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Mike Pence?
    Survey dates: 
  • Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Kamala Harris?

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,6181,2611,320
    Net Favorable
    39%
    33%
    45%
    Strongly favorable
    20%
    16%
    23%
    Somewhat favorable
    20%
    17%
    22%
    Net Unfavorable
    37%
    46%
    28%
    Somewhat unfavorable
    8%
    9%
    7%
    Strongly unfavorable
    29%
    37%
    21%
    Don't know enough to say
    21%
    18%
    23%
    No answer
    3%
    3%
    3%
    Question wording: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Kamala Harris?
    Survey dates: 
  • Did you happen to watch all or part of the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden that was held on Tuesday, September 29th?

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,6181,2611,320
    Yes, I watched all or part
    67%
    69%
    64%
    I did not watch but I followed coverage of it
    16%
    16%
    17%
    I did not watch and I haven’t followed coverage of it
    15%
    13%
    17%
    No answer
    2%
    2%
    2%
    Question wording: Did you happen to watch all or part of the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden that was held on Tuesday, September 29th?
    Survey dates: 
  • Do you think Joe Biden’s debate performance was: (AMONG THOSE WHO WATCHED OR FOLLOWED)

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,3191,1391,147
    Better than expected
    26%
    24%
    27%
    About as expected
    59%
    60%
    58%
    Worse than expected
    13%
    15%
    12%
    No answer
    2%
    1%
    3%
    Question wording: Do you think Joe Biden’s debate performance was: (AMONG THOSE WHO WATCHED OR FOLLOWED)
    Survey dates: 
  • Do you think Donald Trump’s debate performance was: (AMONG THOSE WHO WATCHED OR FOLLOWED)

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,3191,1391,147
    Better than expected
    7%
    8%
    6%
    About as expected
    52%
    56%
    49%
    Worse than expected
    39%
    35%
    42%
    No answer
    2%
    1%
    2%
    Question wording: Do you think Donald Trump’s debate performance was: (AMONG THOSE WHO WATCHED OR FOLLOWED)
    Survey dates: 
  • After the debate, do you feel mostly: (AMONG THOSE WHO WATCHED OR FOLLOWED)

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,3191,1391,147
    Excited
    10%
    14%
    7%
    Relieved
    10%
    11%
    9%
    Disappointed
    53%
    54%
    52%
    Angry
    23%
    18%
    28%
    No answer
    3%
    2%
    4%
    Question wording: After the debate, do you feel mostly: (AMONG THOSE WHO WATCHED OR FOLLOWED)
    Survey dates: 
  • Will you definitely vote this way or is there a chance you could change your mind and vote the other way?

    Gender
    AnswerTotalMaleFemale
    Unweighted N2,6181,2611,320
    Definitely voting this way
    82%
    82%
    82%
    Chance I could change my mind
    14%
    15%
    13%
    No answer
    4%
    4%
    5%
    Question wording: Will you definitely vote this way or is there a chance you could change your mind and vote the other way?
    Survey dates: 

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