President Donald Trump's aggressive takedown of Democrat Joe Biden in the first presidential debate has apparently backfired. Biden now holds a campaign-high 14-point lead in The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
The findings – Biden 53% and Trump 39% – represent a "a shock to the system," according to GOP pollster Bill McInturff to the Journal.
"The public can be taking a moment to say, 'What did I just see, and how do I feel about it?'" McInturff told the Journal.
Trump, who had been hospitalized amid a bout with COVID-19 since the poll was conducted, is down but still not out, if you follow the past, McInturff concluded.
"He has a history of bouncing back to some set point," he said.
"What we know for sure is that the debate had consequence, at least initially."
Democrat pollster Jeff Horwitt told the Journal, Trump "lost the American people on style more than substance."
"It is clear that the debate, and Mr. Trump's behavior during it, reinforced the negative side of Mr. Trump personally for many respondents," Horwitt said.
The poll did admit an alarming oversampling of Democrats (45%) versus Republicans (36%) and, generally, polls of registered voters instead of likely voters has been less favorable for President Trump, who enjoys high voter enthusiasm, according to myriad pollsters.
The Wall Street Journal/NBC News polled 800 registered voters between Sept. 30-Oct. 1 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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