Poll Results: How would you grade the candidates on their debate performance?

Last week, we asked readers: “How would you grade the candidates on their debate performance?” from the first presidential debate on Sept. 29. The results are in after 1,988 readers judged the candidates on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being “poor” and 5 being “excellent.” On average, President Trump had a rating of 3.51, while Vice President Biden held a rating of 1.81.

Overall, results were widespread for both candidates. For President Trump, the most selected rating was 4, making up 31.69 percent (630 readers) of the vote. This was closely followed by grades of 3 and 5, which had 23.99 percent (477 readers) and 23.44 percent (466 readers) respectively. A grade of 2 was given by 13.23 percent (263 readers) and a grade of 1 by 7.65 percent (152 readers) to the president.

Joe Biden received a grade of 1 from the majority of voters, totaling 47.13 percent (937 readers). The next most frequently voted rating for Biden was 2 with 32.39 percent (644 readers), followed by 3 with 15.04 percent (299 readers). Finally, 3.32 percent (66 readers) selected a grade of 4 for the vice president, and 2.11 percent (42 readers) gave him a 5 for performing well.

The results of this poll and several others show that neither President Trump nor Vice President Biden performed perfectly during their first debate. Many Americans commented on the chaotic, and at times, uninformative nature of the event. With the second of three debates looming, it will be interesting to see if any undecided voters will be swayed as both candidates look to gain ground.


Disclaimer: These polls are to measure the opinions of our readers, and the results reflect the views of those who choose to respond. These polls are opinion-based and not proven, nor based on scientific methods of sampling, data collection, and analysis. We encourage all readers to be informed and educated based on scientific methods of data collections.