Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden post-debate, and half say Trump handily won the showdown, a Suffolk University/USA Today survey found.
This survey was taken in the days following Thursday night’s debate between Trump and Biden, fielded Friday, June 28 through Sunday, June 30.
In a field including third-party candidates, Trump leads with 41 percent support — four points higher than Biden’s 38 percent support. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes in third place with eight percentage points. Independent candidate Cornel West, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver all see one percent support each.
According to the results, Trump’s 41 percent reflects a four-point bump from May’s results, and Biden’s reflects a one-point bump, as the two tied at 37 percent at the time.
Gleaning from the results, USA Today also observed that at the end of the day, “The enthusiasm gap could affect turnout.”
“Trump voters are also much more excited about their candidate than Biden voters are about theirs. That enthusiasm gap could be critical when it comes to convincing supporters to actually cast a ballot in the fall,” the article read.
Indeed, Trump voters are more enthusiastic for their candidate than Biden voters. Over half, 59 percent, described themselves as “very excited” to vote for their candidate, followed by 33 percent who said they are “somewhat excited.”
On the flip side, just 29 percent of Biden voters said they are “very excited” to vote for their candidate, while 31 percent said they are “somewhat excited.”
The survey also found half saying Trump won the debate, compared to just 11 percent who said the same of Biden. It was taken June 28-30, 2024, among 1,000 registered voters. It has a +/- 3.1 percent margin of error.
It coincides with other post-debate findings showing an uphill battle for Biden. For instance, pollster Frank Luntz’s focus group of undecided voters said they want Biden to go following the debate.
Halfway through the debate, Luntz said, “After the first commercial break, I asked my focus group of undecided voters how many of them are more convinced to vote for Joe Biden. Zero raised their hands.”
According to Luntz, “half of them” voted for Biden in 2020.
“After the second commercial break, I asked my focus group of undecided voters how many are more convinced to vote for Donald Trump. 10 of 14 raised their hands… Even if they didn’t like Donald Trump,” he found — more devastating news for Biden.
