What Went Down During The First Presidential Debate
The top issue for respondents who lean towards Biden is COVID-19: 44 percent say it’s the most important thing. This reflects quite a difference to Trump supporters, who prioritize the economy above any other issue.
Voters who lean toward Biden care most about COVID-19
Among respondents who were more likely to vote for Biden than Trump, share who named each issue as the top one facing the U.S., according to a FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll
| issue | share of | biden supporters |
|---|---|---|
| COVID-19 | 43.7% | |
| Racial inequality | 11.5 | |
| Health care | 9.9 | |
| The economy | 9.6 | |
| Climate change | 8.4 | |
| Economic inequality | 4.2 | |
| The Supreme Court | 4.2 | |
| Violent crime | 1.8 | |
| Education | 1.5 | |
| Other | 1.4 | |
| Immigration | 1.1 | |
| Gun policy | 0.8 | |
| Abortion | 0.1 |
Trump says “we’re weeks away from a vaccine.” But even if that’s true, most Americans say they wouldn’t trust a vaccine that comes out before Election Day. A KFF poll found that, if a free coronavirus vaccine is developed and approved by the Food and Drug Administration before the election, just 42 percent of Americans would want to get it. Why? Sixty-two percent of respondents said they worried that political pressure would lead the FDA to rush to approve the vaccine before it is proven to be safe and effective.
It might be true that other countries with less transparency in government are undercounting their COVID-19 deaths more than the United States is. But that doesn’t change the fact that 200,000+ people have died in the U.S. — and that’s probably an undercount, too, since excess mortality data suggests the real number is higher.