Who's ahead in battleground states post-debate? Polling shows Harris maintains slight lead

Political strategists react to the Trump, Harris debate in Philadelphia

The first question of Tuesday's debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris centered around an issue high on voters' minds—the economy. Who gave the better response? Who had the better debate? Political strategists weigh in on "The Final 5."

WASHINGTON - Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump went head-to-head in their first debate in Philadelphia Tuesday night.

Harris gave a forceful showing throughout the debate, often goading and baiting Trump into responses that were sometimes rambling and off-topic.

While Trump seemed focused at the beginning of the debate and made some pointed arguments on the economy, he became visibly more irritated as time wore on, leading him to revisit some of his time-honored talking points rather than bringing his policy platform forward.

One of those points was the Southern border – a notable weakness for Harris that Trump capitalized on.

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Trump raised arguments on immigration and what he termed "migrant crime" in many of his answers. However, it steered him into the familiar territory of making false claims – such as the debunked allegations that migrants are stealing and eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio – which moderators flatly denied.

Generally, analysts have declared Harris the winner of the debate, although many GOP pundits have accused the ABC moderators of steering toward questions that benefited Harris’ case and failing to follow up on some of her responses as they did with Trump.

Trump, Harris debate analysis

FOX 5's Tom Fitzgerald provides insightful analysis of the first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

CNN reported that prior to the debate, registered voters were evenly split on who they believed would perform more strongly.

Post-debate, 63% of respondents said that Harris turned in a better performance, while 37% said Trump performed better.

The same poll showed that voters who watched the debate also left with improved views of Harris compared with their impressions pre-debate, while few changed their opinions of Trump overall, according to CNN.

The CNN poll also showed that among voters who identify as independents, Harris’ favorability shot up from 30% to 48%.

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A report from The Washington Post showed that uncommitted voters in key swing states overwhelmingly thought Harris performed better. In their anecdotal survey, 33 respondents thought Harris did better while two said Trump did.

"I don't think Trump was at his best — too rambly. He would have been better had he stayed calm and made more of an intentional effort to answer the questions," one voter told the Washington Post.

"I don't think Harris gave any real answers to any question," another respondent told the outlet.

FOX 5 DC also asked viewers who they believed had the best showing in the debate. In that poll, Harris came out on top – earning 54% of the vote compared to Trump’s 45% Another 1% thought it was a tie.