On Sept. 10, the second presidential debate of the 2024 presidential election occurred, the first between former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris. And it’s safe to say that the highly anticipated debate did not disappoint — at least, when it came to the discourse it sparked both between the candidates on the debate stage and among voters across the country.
The 90-minute debate covered a wide range of hot-button issues, from the nation’s economy and ongoing housing crisis, foreign policies in relation to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, reproductive rights, immigration, and more. However, it’s not an American political debate without a few bizarre moments. Throughout the evening, both candidates became topics of spirited conversation: Harris for her unfiltered facial expressions and Trump for his jarring and confusing comments including claims of immigrants in Ohio eating pets, Democrats endorsing abortion after birth, and “transgender operations” happening to immigrants in prison. (Both during and following the debate, these claims were fact-checked and debunked by many news outlets and nonpartisan organizations).
Following every debate, there’s always conversation about who the public believes “won” the night. And while it’s kind of an arbitrary thing, the public’s opinion on this actually really matters; in fact, President Joe Biden’s poor performance in the first 2024 presidential debate back in June is largely cited as a main cause of his suspension of his campaign, which is what made way for Harris’s candidacy.
So, who won the first Harris-Trump debate? Immediately after the debate, Her Campus asked this question on our Instagram Story and opened the floor for our community to weigh in. Here’s what they said:
87% of Her Campus’s poll respondents said Kamala Harris won the debate.
A total of 1,257 people voted in the Her Campus IG Story poll, with 159 people (13%) voting Trump and 1,098 people (87%) voting Harris.
Some of the respondents who said Trump won the debate claimed Harris had an unfair advantage in the debate and was therefore more prepared. One poll respondent said the debate was “rigged” and that “Kamala knew the questions beforehand,” a sentiment Trump himself suggested following the debate. However, according to a CBS report released prior to the live event, neither candidate was permitted to “receive topics or questions in advance,” and there is no evidence of Harris having received any information that Trump didn’t also have access to.
Overwhelmingly, though, poll respondents claimed a clear victory for Harris. “Kamala wiped the floor with him,” one poll respondent wrote. “I really hope people start realizing how bad [Trump] would be.”
For some, the Harris-Trump debate helped make their voting decision easier, as they felt Harris spoke more on legitimate issues in comparison to Trump: “Kamala shared her views and plans while Trump degraded her,” one person shared. Another added: “Kamala Harris is the clear choice for president.”
But not everyone was happy with the debate.
Despite the large majority of poll respondents naming Harris as the debate winner, many were still left unsatisfied with how both candidates performed in the debate. “They bashed each other rather than talking about the issues/policies,” one respondent wrote. Another shared, “They’re both idiots and we shouldn’t ‘endorse’ either of them.”
Some have a hard time taking any of this seriously. “It’s a comedy show at this point,” one person wrote, while yet another likened the debate to being “better than any reality tv show [I’ve] watched this year.”
For what it’s worth, despite this debate poll on Her Campus’s IG, Harris and Trump are almost at a deadlock in the more widespread and official election polls, with Harris leading by a mere 3% after the debate. This just goes to show that while Her Campus’s community may seem to have a clear favorite after the Sept. 10 debate, much of the country is still quite divided over these two candidates.
Although both presidential candidates will continue their campaigns in the coming weeks, as of Sept. 11, it’s unclear whether there will be a second debate between Harris and Trump. However, voters can expect to tune in for the vice presidential debate between Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Senator J.D Vance on Oct. 1, so at least there’s that to look forward to.