Four in 10 voters say the presidential debate is more theater than issues – and point out a major flaw in CNN

PRESIDENT Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off Thursday night for the first time since Biden’s victory.

The candidates discussed a range of issues, including abortion, the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, immigration, inflation and their mental fitness.

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Dana Bash and Jake Tapper moderated the debate for CNN.

The US Sun interviewed 1,000 people about Biden and Trump’s debate performance.

Of those interviewed, 400 identified as Democrats, 400 identified as Republicans, and 200 identified as Libertarian or Green Party.

The survey asked respondents general debate questions, reactions, political issues and opinions about Trump’s sentence.

About 44% of Americans agreed that presidential debates are more about theater than candidates’ stances on issues.

However, 92% of respondents believe that the topics discussed have an impact on the average American.

Of the issues discussed, 51% said the economy was the most important, 51% said immigration was an important issue and 16% named Social Security as their top concern.

Republicans repeated the same three main questions from the poll results.

When the results were narrowed down to just Democrats, the three main issues differed slightly.

Only Democrats still considered the economy the most important issue, with 39%.

The second most important issue for Democrats was reproductive rights, at 29%.

Social Security was tied as the third most important issue, alongside the attack on the Capitol on January 6.

Respondents cited their two main complaints about the debate: 46% of candidates made false claims and 44% did not fully answer questions.

NEW RULES

CNN’s recent debate format was different from previous years.

There was no live studio audience to distract or encourage the candidates.

Half of the survey respondents agreed that the decision had a positive impact on the debate.

They were not allowed to take pre-written notes with them, just paper and pen.

Respondents noted that this was a flaw in CNN’s format, with nearly half believing that candidates should be allowed to bring notes to the debate.

Biden and Trump were also not allowed to speak to their teams during broadcast breaks.

They were not given an opening statement, but both were allowed two-minute closing statements, the order of which was determined by lot.

Perhaps the most notable change was that each candidate’s microphone was turned off while the other was speaking.

When asked about this change, 82% of respondents agreed with the decision to turn off the candidate’s microphones when it was not their turn to speak.

The majority (84%) of those interviewed believed that the moderators conducted the debate well.

More than half (53%) of those surveyed believe Donald Trump won the debate, while 21% said neither candidate won.

Although the issue was evenly split along party lines, Republicans appeared to have stronger support for Trump than Democrats did for Biden.

Both candidates held rallies the day after the debate to generate even more support ahead of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

ABC News is scheduled to host the next Presidential Debate on September 10.