Verdict is IN on which candidate won the presidential debate

'Voters are not surprised'

Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the first presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, June 27, 2024.

The verdict is in on which candidate, incumbent Democrat Joe Biden or Republican President Donald Trump, won Thursday night's presidential debate in Atlanta.

Trump. By 36 points.

And the Daily Mail said its "snap poll" showed that even many independent voters think Biden needs to drop out, now.

JL Partners polled 805 independents immediately after the debate, the report said, and 68% said Trump won the debate. And two-thirds say Biden should be off the ticket.

The report called the event a "car-crash" for Biden, pointing out, "Biden looked all of his 81 years on Thursday night as he repeatedly lost his train of thought and meandered into silence."

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And Trump, 78, "was able to land his punches while his Democratic opponent struggled."

Even 30% of those who voted for Biden in 2020 said Trump won. Forty-one percent of Biden 2020 voters said it's time for a new name.

The result immediately triggered panic among Democrats and even discussion about replacing him.

The report pointed out James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners, said, "Voters are not surprised by Biden's performance: We know from other DailyMail.com polling that people expected him to perform poorly and think he is old and incompetent."

Biden didn't correct that impression, instead, he confirmed it, Johnson said.

"Where this goes now is anyone's guess, but looking at these numbers it looks like Joe Biden cannot beat Donald Trump among independents. And if you can’t win the voters in the middle, you can't win the White House."

Biden gave the audience "non-sequiturs" and garbled answers, the report said.

It opened the door for a Trump "zinger."

"I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence," Trump told moderators. "I don't think he knows what he said either."

Even CNN, running the debate, and a longtime advocate for Biden, said its "flash poll" showed Trump "soundly defeating" Biden.

"The CNN poll posted on air showed that 67% of debate watchers felt that Trump won the debate compared to 33% who believe Biden won the debate."

"This debate was a total and complete disaster for Biden," former CNN commentator Chris Cillizza said on social media. "He looked old. His answers trailed off repeatedly. He was hard to understand. He would stop in mid sentence and move on to something else. I NEVER thought he would be this bad. Stunning. Truly."

Biden's team denied the evidence.

Kamala Harris said, "It was a slow start but a strong finish."

And Jill Biden told the president, 'Joe, you did such a good job! You answered every question. You knew all the facts."

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