The Antelope Valley Times

Your community. Your issues. Your news.

September 29 debate hurt Trump, USC poll finds

by •

LOS ANGELES – With three weeks left until election day, President Trump has not recovered from the self-inflicted wounds of his first debate with Joe Biden and, instead, has sunk farther behind his challenger, a new USC Dornsife poll shows.

The latest data show the unusual extent to which the Sept. 29 debate continues to shape the campaign’s final stretch, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The encounter in Cleveland, dominated by Trump’s repeated interruptions and his cryptic statement that seemingly welcomed a right-wing extremist group, appears to be the exception to the usual rule that the impact of debates fades quickly, according to The Times.

The damage the debate did to Trump’s standing has persisted through his bout with COVID-19, leaving him with a deep deficit and little time to recover. Before the September debate, voters had relatively tepid expectations for how either candidate would do. Trump significantly underperformed those, The Times reported.

On a 0-to-100 scale, Trump’s performance in the debate came in 18 points below what voters had expected, a comparison of those surveyed before and since the debate shows. Independents who lean toward the GOP — a key bloc of potential swing voters — reported the most disappointment. Their rating of Trump’s performance came in 24 points below their pre-debate expectations, the poll found, according to The Times.

Biden’ performance was closer to expectations.

Trump also lost ground, and Biden gained, on the question of which candidate is more mentally fit for the presidency. The former vice president’ advantage on that question grew from 12 points before the debate to 19 points since then.

Since the debate, roughly half the voters polled said they do not believe Trump is mentally fit.

Voters’ view of both Biden’s mental and physical fitness improved after the debate, something Democratic operatives had hoped to see after Trump, 74, and his allies spent much of the spring and summer pushing to portray the 77- year-old former vice president as doddering.

The overall impact has been to swell Biden’s lead. The USC Dornsife poll tracks the race each day, using a 14-day rolling average. As pre-debate interviews have cycled out of that average, Biden’s lead has climbed steadily from 9 points on the day of the debate to 13 points as of Tuesday — 54% to 41%.

–

21 comments for "September 29 debate hurt Trump, USC poll finds"

  1. I voted for the candidate that didn’t catch COVID-19 as well and his wife and son. His staff and other enablers got infected too, almost 30 and counting.

    I don’t think Trump gave it to Melania. She’s kept a long distance from him for years.

    Trump is now high on steroids and thinks he’s Super Duper Man. Yeah, right. He is what can be best described as what he bragged about grabbing. He never fired anyone face-to-face like on television. He has someone else do it or he tweets his firings.

    But, his followers swallow all Trump’s lies without gagging. They would excel in the “film” industry.

    While high on steroids he wanted to kiss the men and women in his rally audience.

    Would John Evans and Bob here like a big, wet infectious kiss from Trump? You bet. They are so much in love.

    • I will not vote for anyone in politics who is a Toxic Narcissist individual…As Republican all my life, this is first time I voted for a Democratic President,,yes I voted for Biden…President Trump is not fit to lead our Great Nation for another 4 years….Frank E

      • @frank Eugend

        Hey, Frank. You are in good company. A lot of Republicans and former Republicans that are good, smart people have done what you’ve done.

        It takes courage not only to do that but to acknowledge it publicly as well.

        Many Trump supporters like Trump himself talk the big talk but lack the courage you’ve shown.

        • 2 1/2 more weeks and Trump is done.

          I added up the IQs of all the Trump followers here and, wait for it……it’s a minus number.

          There are 5th graders smarter than John Evans, Bob, “True” ‘murican et al.

          • I’m guessing it would be such a remarkable and unique event that it would be really obvious, but I have given up on ever seeing it actually.

  3. USC, oh yeah I remember, celebrity child admissions bribery. Of course their respondents root for the “Biden Way” of family graft. It’s so 21st Century. So “I deserve it.” So citizen of the world. So do as I say not as I do. So California. So PATHETIC! Where’s that child international business wiz Hunter? He be special, don’t cha know. Oh yeah, Hollywood.

  4. Conservative Republican says….

    As a proud conservative Republican,, I’m ashamed I voted for this Stupid, Toxic, Narcisstic, Coward of a man in 2016……It really upset me and my Republican X- millatary friends when our President down-played the Russian Bounty payments for each dead American Soldier….Trump is not mentally fit to lead our Great Nation for another 4 years….Party before Nation is [removed]

  5. These “polls” are a joke. If they were true it would be more like 95% to 5% in favor of Trump. It will be the biggest landslide in US voting history next month. If Biden wins it proves it was rigged and be prepared for Civil War 2.. The silent majority will come out and will be heard.

    • “True” American

      Why don’t you be one of the silent majority yourself?

      You don’t get the absurdity of what you wrote. Trump and the GOP have been trying to rig the election every which way but honestly.

      That Trump and you say if he loses it’s because it was rigged is quite silly. But, you don’t know any better, do you?

        • “True American” Are you with the Proud Kids or Qanon, if they’ll have you?

          Keep watching Faux “news” and your IQ will get even lower than it is now.

          Your guy Orange Blossom is headed for the politcal graveyard and you’re sure to follow.

          What will you be saying when he’s vanquished like the impotent little man he is?

    • Ditto-heads with boarderline IQs, the Nancy Pelosi could care less that he’s senile, corrupt, steeped in cognitive decline. Unable to think for themselves, the Nancy Pelosi people only vote for candidates Nancy Pelosi tells them to vote for.

      • Oh, Carol

        It’s Trump who unwittingly said “herd mentality” instead of “herd immunity”. He was referring to his base which includes you.

        He doesn’t wear a mask. His followers don’t wear masks.

        He watches Faux “news” all day and you watch it too.

        Your comment is what Trump’s “herd” says all the time about Speaker Pelosi. She has a bigger set than Trump and he knows it and is afraid of her.

        Trump women are mean girls. They should all be named Heather like in the movie.

    • “Ignorance” can be fixed, its the stupidity of the Trump base that is the cancer that will destroy this country.