Trump vs Harris debate result: Who won the ABC's first presidential debate?

The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris saw early viewer responses favouring Harris, but who was declared the actual winner?

The highly anticipated ABC's first presidential debate between former US President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris has come and gone, leaving behind a wave of reactions and analyses.

US Vice-President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (right) and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shake hands at the start of a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. (AFP)

Despite claims by some critics that ABC News, owned by Disney, was biased in favour of Harris, even Trump called ABC “rigged” the debate; still early responses from viewers indicate that Harris emerged as the clear winner of the debate.

Who won the debate?

According to a CNN flash poll conducted among debate viewers, Harris decisively took the lead, with 63% of registered voters who watched the event declaring her the winner. Trump, meanwhile, was favoured by just 37% of respondents.

The poll, which was sent via text message to 605 registered US voters who had watched the debate, found that many respondents had originally expected the outcome to be evenly split between the two candidates.

This isn’t the first time Trump has faced tough competition on the debate stage, earlier he bested Joe Biden in CNN's presidential debate. Notably, debate watchers favoured both Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Trump.

Harris made notable gains among independent voters

Following the debate, the VP's favorability rating increased by six points, reaching 45%. Whereas Trump saw a slight decline in his favorability rating, dropping two points to 39%. The survey also found that voters were closely divided on which candidate understood the issues facing everyday Americans, with 44% choosing Harris and 40% backing Trump.

A huge 82% of respondents said the debate did not affect their choice of candidate, while 14% indicated that they might reconsider their decision but likely wouldn’t change their minds. Only 4% of those polled said the debate swayed them enough to alter their voting decision.

Trump’s economic edge

While Harris made strides in some areas, Trump continued to lead in voters’ confidence about handling the economy. The CNN poll revealed that Trump had a 20-point advantage over Harris on economic matters, with 55% of respondents favoring the former president’s ability to manage the economy compared to 35% who backed Harris. This gap widened slightly after the debate, suggesting that Trump’s economic message still resonates with many voters.