Eighty-one percent (81%) of Vice President Harris voters could not understand why a reasonable person would vote for former President Donald Trump. A Napolitan News Service Survey also found 72% of Trump voters could not understand why a reasonable person would vote for Harris. The survey of 1,000 Registered Voters was completed shortly before the presidential debate.

Among those who were aware of and committed to watching the debate, 90% of Harris voters could not understand how a reasonable person could vote for Trump, and 85% of Trump voters were just as mystified by Harris voters.

This suggests that the debate audience was not interested in evaluating the candidates and their positions. RMG President Scott Rasmussen said the audience was "more like the crowd at an Ohio State-Michigan game. They weren't there to decide who they liked, they were watching to cheer for their team."

Napolitan News will ask the same question in a survey next week to see if the debate had any impact on these perceptions.

This Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 Registered Voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on September 9-10, 2024, BEFORE the presidential debate. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc.