President Donald Trump won big after the first round of Democratic debates, according to new Emerson polling.
Trump has improved his standing in each head-to-head matchup against a Democratic rival since the last round of Emerson national polling in June. The first Democratic debate took place in Miami, Florida late June.
Polls now show the president beating Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Kamala Harris by 51%-49%, while he trailed each of those candidates last month. Trump has also closed the gap in a matchup with former Vice President Joe Biden — that contest now favors Biden at 53% to 47%, versus 55%-45% in June. Sen. Bernie Sanders now leads Trump 51%-49% as compared to last month’s 55%-45%.
“It looks like Trump was a winner from the Democratic debate, as his head-to-heads tightened by about 5 points against all the leading Democratic candidates,” Emerson polling director Spencer Kimball said.
The president also has some electoral advantage on the issues, as the poll found that the top issue for voters is the economy. The president has overseen strikingly low unemployment, record stock market gains, and rising wages. The second biggest issues for voters is health care, while immigration slides in at third.
Trump campaign national press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said after the Democratic debate that she believed the positions taken by Democrats would only help the president.
“This debate was the best argument for President Trump’s re-election and should really be counted as an in-kind contribution to the President’s campaign,” McEnany asserted.
Perhaps the biggest loser of the first debate was Biden, who suffered plummeting polls after what many viewed as an abysmal performance. In a particularly stunning moment, Harris left Biden nearly speechless with her criticism of his past views on civil rights and mandatory busing. (RELATED: Joe Biden Campaign In Free Fall As Polls Hit New Lows)
According to a Morning Consult/FiveThirtyEight poll, support for Biden dropped ten points after the debate, from 41.5% to 31.5%.