A CNN poll taken after the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris found that the percentage of voters who trust Trump more on the economy rose from +16% to +20%.
CNN’s Jake Tapper introduced the poll by saying to CNN political director David Chalian, “The first results of our instant poll of debate-watchers have just come in and David Chalian is going to join us now to break it all down. David, tell us more.”
“Yeah, Jake, and as you noted, this is a poll of debate watchers,” Chalian pointed out. “This is not a poll that represents the overall population, although in partisan breakdown it is pretty close to what the overall registered population looks like in the country.”
Later in the broadcast, Chalian showed the result when debate-watchers were asked whom they trusted more on the economy, Trump or Harris, and found that although Trump led Harris by 16 points before the debate, 53%-37%, after the debate, Trump’s lead soared to 20%, 55%-35%.
CNN: More voters trust Trump on the economy AFTER watching the debate. pic.twitter.com/TbnCGBi8AM
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 11, 2024
During the debate, Trump stated, “We’ve had a terrible economy because inflation has — which is really known as a country buster. It breaks up countries. We have inflation like very few people have ever seen before. Probably the worst in our nation’s history. … everybody knows I’m an open book. Everybody knows what I’m going to do. Cut taxes very substantially. And create a great economy like I did before. We had the greatest economy.”
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The centrality of the economy for voters has been amply reported in the media for months:
September 10: CBS News: “About 8 in 10 adults tell CBS News that the economy is a major factor in their choice at the polls, outpacing issues such as abortion and climate change.”
The Economist/YouGov poll, August 11-13: 73% of those polled said jobs and the economy were very important to them, far surpassing any other issue.
July 30: Statista: “A survey conducted in July 2024 found that the most important issue for 25 percent of Americans was inflation and prices. A further ten percent of respondents were most concerned about jobs and the economy.”
March 6: Data For Progress noted that between July 2023 to February 2024, inflation “held the top spot for the majority of the time” among issues important to voters.
