Most registered voters think President Trump will outperform President Biden in Thursday’s presidential debate, according to a new poll from The New York Times/Siena College.
The poll, released Wednesday, found 60 percent of registered voters believe Trump will do “very well” or “somewhat well” in Thursday’s debate, compared to 46 percent who said the same for Biden.
The debate is being hosted by CNN but will be simulcast by other networks and outlets.
Trump faced heavy criticism for his performance in his first debate with Biden during the 2020 election season, as he frequently interrupted the now-president and moderator Chris Wallace. He has reportedly admitted he interrupted Biden “too much.”
Leading up to the debate this week, Trump and his allies have been attacking CNN and moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, while also spreading theories Biden will use stimulants during the debate.
CNN has denied any bias and defended its anchors, while the Biden campaign has said Trump is resorting to lies.
While Republicans appear to be trying to lower expectations for the debate after constant attacks on Biden’s fitness, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday predicted a strong Trump showing.
“I would predict that Trump will win because I really — I think Donald Trump is … he could win a prize for the greatest debater in modern American history, probably since Lincoln-Douglas,” Kennedy said in an interview with television host Piers Morgan posted Tuesday to YouTube, referencing historic debates between former President Lincoln and former Sen. Stephen Douglas (D-Ill.).
The Times/Siena poll also found 74 percent of registered voters saying they “intend to watch” Thursday’s debate, while 22 percent said they do not.
The poll was conducted June 20-23, featuring 1,226 registered voters and with 991 of them doing a full survey. The margin of error for the registered voters is 3 percentage points for the registered voters and 3.5 percentage points for the registered voters who did the full survey.