Over half of Americans see Harris as debate winner, marking shift from June's Trump-Biden faceoff: Poll

Days after presidential debate between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, a poll released on Sunday shows that over half of Americans believe that Harris emerged as the clear winner.

According to The Hill report, citing an ABC/Ipsos poll, 58 per cent of Americans chose Harris as the winner of the debate, while 36 per cent picked Trump.

Pollsters highlighted a notable shift compared to the June debate between Trump and President Biden, where 66 per cent of Americans deemed Trump the winner, while only 28 per cent favoured Biden.

According to the report, the recent poll was conducted over the three days following the first — and potentially only— debate between Trump and Harris on the national stage.

Morever, the debate positively impacted Harris’s favourability ratings.

The poll found that 37 per cent of Americans felt more favourably towards her as a result, while 23 per cent felt less favourably, and 38 per cent saw no change in their opinion.

As far as Trump is concerned, 30 per cent said the debate made them view him less favourably, while 17 per cent said it made them see him as more favourable. About 50 per cent said it made no difference, added the report.

During the debate, Trump appeared irritated and often avoided looking at Harris, showing visible anger that suggested she unsettled him.

In contrast, Harris maintained a confident demeanour and positioned herself as a new generational leader, stating, “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump.”

According to The Hill, political analysts and the Wall Street Journal editorial board have generally deemed Harris the debate’s winner, although Trump claimed it was his “best debate ever.”

The ABC News/Ipsos poll, conducted by Langer Research Associates from September 11-13 with a sample of 3,276 adults, has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

With inputs from agencies