What Went Down During The First Presidential Debate
It’s really hard to see how Trump’s argument that “Biden would have been worse” will land. Biden wasn’t president. Trump was. This is what happened. Hypothetical alternate realities seem really weak as a defense.
Biden said up front that he is not going to continuously fact-check Trump. It appears his strategy is to laugh repeatedly while Trump is talking, which gets picked up on the split-screen and seems to distract Trump but doesn’t get dinged as an interruption.
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 |