Focus group shows undecided voters leaning toward Trump after presidential debate

A group of undecided voters who took part in a focus group during the first 2024 presidential debate said President Joe Biden should be replaced as the Democratic candidate following his performance, Axios reported.

Frank Luntz, the pollster who hosted the group and has done so since 1996, said he had never seen a "conclusion this overwhelming." Practically all media coverage and analysis in the U.S. reached a similar conclusion following the debate, in which Biden was described as "hesitant" and his performance as "shaky," among many such adjectives.

Biden on Friday sought to brush off the concerns, which in Democratic circles many described as borderline panic, saying he had a sore throat. "I think we did well," he told reporters during a stop at a waffle house in Atlanta after the debate. Asked about widespread concerns and calls for him to drop out of the race, he said: "No. It's hard to debate a liar."

But despite assurances, many voters could have made up their minds (or gotten close to doing so) largely due to the debate. Of 14 voters in the battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina, 12 said they are now leaning toward Trump. One is now closer to supporting Biden and the remaining one is still undecided. Nine of the 14 said they had voted for Trump in 2020.

"I thought he was going to be a little more forceful tonight, similar to the State of the Union," said John Farley, of Pennsylvania. "I just have no confidence in him," said Emily Murphy of Georgia, "and he dropped the ball." "I wish we could replace the whole ticket — Kamala, Trump, Joe — all of them and start fresh," said Pierce Pliapol, of North Carolina," according to the outlet.

A large amount of U.S. voters have said repeatedly that they don't like Biden nor Trump and are choosing the lesser of two evils. The concept could be stronger now, as the conclusions leading voters to lean toward Trump had mostly to do with Biden's lousy performance than a dazzling one by Trump.