Fox News Digital spoke with voters from across the nation about their reactions to the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump.
Becky from Tennessee thought Harris won, saying the vice president “made strong points about her policies” and “focused on the positive.” Edwin, a self-described independent from Florida, also said Harris won the debate, saying she was “calm and cool” and Trump was “typical Trump” who was “just repeating what he’s been repeating for years.”Â
“I’m kind of torn between the both, but I think for being calm, I think Harris won,” Edwin said. “I like Trump’s policies because everything was a lot lower when he was president for the first time. I thought if he acted more presidential, he would get his message over a lot better than what it is now, which tends to be a little chaos.”
ABC DEBATE MODERATORS SPARK FURY FOR AGGRESSIVE FACT-CHECKING OF TRUMP, EASY TREATMENT OF HARRIS
Carolyn from Arlington, Virginia thought Harris was “ahead of the game,” though when asked whether she is better off financially today than she was four years ago, she replied “no.”
“Things are very high. You know, the economy is out of control, I think. But she has a plan, I think that was good that she presented it,” Carolyn said, adding she would trust Harris with fixing the economy over Trump. Â
Mina from Houston, Texas, said she was supporting Harris before the debate, gave her the win because “she’s able to form coherent sentences.” Alex from the California Bay Area said Harris “exceeded expectations” and that Trump was “not so good.” However, he did call out the ABC News debate moderators for being “pretty biased” against Trump.Â
“They fact-checked him a lot, and they didn’t fact-check her, not even once,” Alex said. Â
FOX NEWS MEDIA PROPOSES SECOND HARRIS-TRUMP DEBATE MODERATED BY MARTHA MACCALLUM, BRET BAIER
Sherry, a Trump supporter who splits her time between homes in California and Michigan, admitted that she thought the former president didn’t win the debate.Â
“I’m just sorry Trump couldn’t do a better job,” Sherry told Fox News Digital. “I love Trump. I’m gonna vote for him. It didn’t sway me. However, he was off his game and he really fed into her. And I’m sorry he didn’t say what he wanted to accomplish.”
Tamara of Washington D.C., who trusts Trump to handle economic issues over Harris, told Fox News Digital Harris “accomplished what she set out to do,” which was to “get under Trump’s skin.”
“Kamala was really baiting Trump, and she spent the majority of time doing that, not covering some of the issues,” Tamara said. “I thought she held the debate better than Trump did last night for sure though.” Â
Thomas of Michigan, however, believed Trump won the debate, citing the “solid” policies he laid out.Â
“At the end of the day, people want to be safe… folks want their children safe. They don’t want people breaking into their homes. They want the basics,” Thomas said.Â
Kenneth of Houston also gave the win to the former president, saying Harris was “not so great with her answers.”
“She didn’t seem to have any knowledge on a lot of the topics,” Kenneth told Fox News Digital. “I think with Trump… he led this country to its peak of its economy. And he was very influencing last night.”
Gina of Michigan didn’t believe there was any winner from Tuesday’s debate, saying there were “questions that were unanswered on both sides” but praised Trump for being “more direct” to voters and that he’s “not afraid to tell it like it is.”
Voters were split on whether they thought more debates between Trump and Harris were necessary, with some saying that they’d like to hear more discussions on policies and would even watch for “entertainment” value while others said they’ve already made up their minds on who they’re voting for in November.Â
“I think they should be more in-depth with some of the questions,” said Kriston of Tennessee, who told Fox News Digital she was leaning more towards Harris after the first debate.Â
“For myself, I don’t see it’s necessary. Maybe for other people, but I hope that if there is, they would get down to more policy details, which they didn’t really get into very much,” Elbert of Washington D.C. said.Â
