Who won the presidential debate? Polls show what Americans think of Trump, Biden

New polls released after the Thursday debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden show who Americans think won the final showdown before the Nov. 3 election.

The 90-minute presidential debate covered several topics — including the environment, the coronavirus pandemic, immigration and race. Moderated by NBC News journalist Kristen Welker, the final debate contained fewer interruptions than the first debate and stricter rules on speaking time.

A CNN poll of debate watchers found Biden came out on top.

Fifty-three percent of voters said Biden won compared to 39% who said Trump, according to the CNN Instant Poll of 585 registered voters immediately after the debate. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.7 percentage points.

Fifty-five percent of debate watchers said Trump’s performance concerned them about how he would handle the presidency compared to 41% who said the same about Biden.

The CNN poll found the debate didn’t change how Americans will vote.

Fifty-five percent of respondents had a favorable view of Biden before the debate, with 56% saying the same after, CNN reported. Forty-two percent said they had a favorable view of Trump before the debate and 41% said the same after.

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Preliminary results from Data for Progress also found Biden won the debate. Fifty-two percent thought Biden won compared to 41% who said the same of Trump.

A US Politics Poll of 722 likely voters found 52% also said Biden came out on top while 39% said Trump won and 9% said it was a tie.

A YouGov poll of 491 registered voters on Oct. 22 found 54% thought Biden won and 35% thought the same of Trump.

GOP pollster Frank Luntz told CNBC that he thought Trump won the debate but Biden “won the war.”

“You got to give Trump a minor victory because he’ll bring some [undecided] voters home, and it’ll close the race a little bit. But in the end, I think Joe Biden won the war,” Luntz said.

Less than two weeks until Election Day, Trump is lagging behind Biden in national polls. FiveThirtyEight has Biden at 52.1% and Trump at 42.2% nationally.

RealClearPolitics’ average has Biden at 50.7% and Trump at 42.8%.