For what it's worth, Democratic presidential nominee pretty consistently won his final debate against President Trump, according to most reputable snap polls conducted after the Thursday night showdown in Nashville.
#NEW Poll On Who won tonight's debate?@YouGovAmerica:
Biden 54% (+19)
Trump 35%@CNN:
Biden 53% (+14)
Trump 39%@DataProgress:
Biden 52% (+11)
Trump 41%— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) October 23, 2020
There was also "the unscientific CNN North Carolina 'undecided voter' panel" that had "Biden 9, Trump 0, a Draw 2," notes Josh Jordan. But on Fox News, Sean Hannity posted an online poll that found Trump to be the overwhelming victor of the night — as Eric Trump highlighted.
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) October 23, 2020
Debates can matter. Trump's performance in his first face-off against Biden was so bad, by the next day Jared Kushner was "imploring friendly media personalities and other allies to level with his father-in-law about the angry and aggressive debate style he had displayed," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Polls would soon show the performance had cost the president support." Trump's snap numbers are actually relatively good after his final, more disciplined debate performance, FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver notes. Trump has now lost all five of his presidential debates, Silver added, and it didn't seem to matter that much in 2016.
The margin here is close enough to the overall margin in the horse race than I wouldn't expect too much change in the polls. But, of course, this was perhaps Trump's best remaining opportunity to turn the race around and he doesn't appear to have done it.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 23, 2020
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