By Tim Reid and Gram Slattery
(Reuters) – A group of American voters who couldn’t decide between Joe Biden And Donald Trump before Thursday’s presidential debate delivered their verdict after the game, and it was almost universally bad news for Biden.
Of the 13 “undecideds” who spoke to Reuters, 10 described the 81-year-old Democratic president’s performance against Republican candidate Trump as weak, baffled, embarrassing and difficult to watch.
Gina Gannon, 65, a retiree in the battleground state of Georgia, voted for Trump in 2016 before ditching him for Biden in 2020.
“Joe Biden looked very weak and confused from the start. It worries me that our global enemies see Joe Biden this way. I was shocked and appalled. I hate to see our president behaving like this on TV and in front of the whole world. Gannon said.
She added: “I am absolutely voting for Donald Trump right now.”
Presidential debates typically have limited influence on voters, but Biden and Trump are in a tight race and the election will likely be decided by just thousands of votes in a handful of swing states. Both candidates must convince the relatively small number of voters who have not yet decided who to vote for.
Biden delivered a shaky, halting performance as Trump attacked him with a series of often false attacks.
Biden’s poor performance has alarmed his fellow Democrats and is likely to make voters increasingly concerned that he is too old for another four-year term.
Seven of nine voters dismayed by Biden’s performance told Reuters they are now leaning toward Trump because they no longer believe Biden can fulfill his duties as president.
Three of them said they would definitely vote for Trump in his Nov. 5 election rematch with Biden, even though two of them said they don’t like the former Republican president.
Meredith Marshall, 51, who lives in the Los Angeles area and is self-employed, said the debate left her in shock.
She voted for Biden in 2020 but is now leaning toward Trump, given what she described as Biden’s lack of mental acuity.
“God forbid my choices are as they are now based on this debate. I would vote for a liar and a convict over a person who appears to be mentally unstable, without a doubt.”
About 20% of voters say they have not chosen a candidate in this year’s presidential race, are leaning toward third-party options or might not vote at all, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Reuters interviewed 15 such voters ahead of Thursday’s debate, and they agreed to be interviewed again after the event about whether the debate changed their views.
It wasn’t all bad news for Biden.
Ashley Altum, a 28-year-old mental health manager from South Carolina, was torn between Biden or a third candidate before the debate.
Now she’s leaning more toward Biden.
She said she was pleased with Biden’s answers as he was more willing than Trump to answer questions directly.
“I could see Biden making quite a mistake, but it always amazes me that more people don’t do that in these situations,” she said. “I think anyone could go there and speak eloquently, impressively for starters.”
Biden pointed out during the debate that Trump, at 78, is only three years younger.
“But Trump was just Trump. From a cognitive decline perspective, I didn’t see that with Trump,” said Tom Reich, 36, a software engineer from South Carolina.
The issues of age and mental capacity hit the campaign trail in February after a Justice Department special counsel report suggested Biden suffered from memory loss.
“What a disaster for Democrats,” said Scott Harrington, 63, a fishmonger in Massachusetts, after watching the debate.
“I was actually undecided, but I was hoping Biden would be good enough that I could vote for him. I hate Trump. I was afraid Biden would show that he was not up to the job, but he was even worse than I feared. Just remember.”
(Reporting by Tim Reid and Gram Slattery in Washington; additional reporting by Helen Coster and Alexandria Ulmer; editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)
