OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Noted pollster Frank Luntz delivered shocking news to President Biden’s campaign following his debate with former President Donald Trump, during which he appeared frail, weak, and froze several times during questioning from the CNN debate moderators.
On Friday, Luntz told a CNBC panel that he recorded a big shift in voter sentiment among undecided swing-state residents during the event between Biden and Trump, the first time the two have met face-to-face since their last debate in 2020.
Luntz told the outlet that most of his focus group was made up of undecided voters from must-have swing states and that they swung overwhelmingly to Trump following the debate.
“In my entire professional career, I’ve done 32 debates. Never has someone performed [like Biden last night]. And I was very upset with Donald Trump in 2020. I have never seen a performance like I saw last night,” said Luntz.
“We’ve never had that before. We are truly in uncharted territory. And what blew me away the most was that Joe Biden voters in 2020 don’t want him on the ticket in 2024. What is the reaction you had [from] 14 swing voters from these states? All undecided, all voting Republican and Democrat back and forth over the last 10 years. And boy, did they swing,” he added.
One focus group member said of Biden: “He does not have the leadership qualities to survive for the next four years. I don’t even know how he’s going to survive the next few months. They need a candidate that could beat Trump.” Another said they supported Biden in the past but added, “I just think if the Democrats want to have a chance at putting someone in the White House, they need to put someone else up.”
Said another: “I think in 2020, Biden was a safe option that was relatively non-harmful to replace Trump. And frankly, I didn’t think it reflected these same cognitive issues that we see tonight on the campaign. Yeah, it was a little dry, but it was definitely not to the same extent. I think tonight, I’m not sure how he functions during an eight-hour workday, let alone an eight-plus-hour workday.”
WATCH:
Pollster Frank Luntz reflects on how stunningly bad Biden was in the debate with Trump, and how that affected swing state voters. Brutal (for Biden)! pic.twitter.com/gOSLlTj0Xk
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) June 28, 2024
Sixty-seven percent of registered voters who watched Thursday’s debate between Biden and Trump believe that Trump delivered a better performance, according to a CNN flash poll conducted by SSRS. This is a shift from pre-debate expectations, as 55 percent anticipated Trump outshining Biden, who only had 45 percent of pre-debate confidence.
Fox News anchor Sean Hannity gave rare praise to “fake news CNN” and its moderators for delivering a “fair” presidential debate despite “trashing” Trump “for many years.”
After the Thursday showdown, Hannity spoke with Fox News in the spin room and almost managed a tribute to the CNN crew and hosts, reporters Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. However, he did so while indicating to his MAGA fans that he was still on their side with the automatic “fake” prefix.
Hannity said: “In fairness to fake news CNN, Fake Jake, and Fake Dana, they put aside their prejudice, their hatred towards Donald Trump for the night, and they actually asked questions and waited for answers.”
He continued: “I thought they managed the debate fairly well, something I didn’t expect, considering we’ve been playing the tape of them trashing Donald Trump for many years. So, I guess, credit for one night.”
Biden is not thinking about withdrawing from the presidential race despite his terrible debate performance and a concerted lobbying campaign from the leftist media to do so, according to CNN’s Kayla Tausche.
