Harris seen as debate winner, widens national lead over Trump: poll

Democratic U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump 47% to 42% in the race to win the Nov. 5 presidential election, increasing her advantage after a debate against the former president that voters largely think she won, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Thursday.

The two-day poll showed Harris with a five percentage point lead among registered voters, just above the four-point advantage she had over Trump in an Aug. 21-28 Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Among voters who said they had heard at least something about Tuesday’s debate, 53% said Harris won and 24% said Trump won, with the rest saying neither had or not answering. Some 52% of respondents said that Trump stumbled and didn’t appear sharp, while 21% said that of Harris.

Harris, 59, put Trump, 78, on the defensive in a combative presidential debate with a stream of attacks on his fitness for office and his myriad legal woes.

Many Republicans were also not convinced about their candidate’s performance in the debate in Philadelphia. Some 53% of Republican voters in the poll said Trump won the debate, compared to 91% of Democrats who said she was the victor. Among Republicans, 31% said no one won and 14% said Harris got the better of Trump.

Ninety-one percent of registered voters in the poll said they had heard at least something of the debate and 44% said they had heard a great deal. The debate, hosted by ABC News, attracted 67.1 million television viewers, according to Nielsen data, topping the roughly 51 million people who watched Trump debate then-candidate President Joe Biden in June.

Biden’s disastrous performance in that debate led to widespread calls by fellow Democrats for him to drop his re-election bid, which he did in June.

Voters