Vice President Kamala Harris maintained a slight lead over former President Donald Trump among registered voters, according to one of the first major polls released following the nominees’ debate on Tuesday.
If the election were held today, 47% of registered voters polled by Reuters/Ipsos said they would vote for Harris. Meanwhile, 42% of voters said they would support Trump.
The last poll conducted by the firm in late August showed Harris leading with about 45% of voters share, ahead of Trump with 41%.
Notably, the Reuters/Ipsos poll did not determine candidates’ chances of winning in the electoral college—meaning Trump could still come out ahead if he wins key swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.
There was some good news for Trump though—many of his campaign’s points of attack against Harris and the Biden administration appeared to connect with voters, with 47% saying he prioritizes a good climate for business (compared to 37% for Harris) and 43% saying he would prioritize lowering the cost of household goods (compared to only 36% for the Democratic nominee).
About 53% of respondents to the poll said Harris “won” the debate, while only 24% said Trump won—a stark contrast to the line the Republican nominee has been touting since Tuesday.
Trump continues to insist he won the debate, and posted screenshots of Twitter polls conducted by news organizations and some right-wing influencers—including a Newsmax snap poll that showed 93% of stating he won.
One was a poll posted by the social media app’s owner, Elon Musk, who endorsed the former president in July. Musk’s poll, which by the billionaire’s own admission was “super unscientific,” showed 73% of respondents supporting Trump.
It’s also a notable difference from the results of the Reuters/Ipsos poll taken after the first debate between Trump and President Joe Biden when he was still running on the top of the Democratic ticket in June. A staggering 60% of voters told the polling firm Trump performed better than Biden, and 73% of respondents rated the Democrat’s performance as “poor” or “terrible.”
