The standoff between President Donald Trump and Democrat nominee Joe Biden "absolutely encouraged people not to vote," GOP pollster Frank Luntz said Wednesday about his focus group's response to the candidates' first debate.
"It was described by my focus group last night as an 'S show,' rhymes with hit, and it was like Chris Wallace was the toilet paper trying to clean up the mess," Luntz said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "I've never had my phone blow up where participants were embarrassed on both sides. Everyone was embarrassed and everyone was upset about what had happened."
Luntz said that the more than a dozen people in his focus group also did not believe they heard the policies they needed to hear, and they felt that both Biden and Trump "didn't behave like they deserve to be president ... it actually makes them less likely to vote for any candidate."
He added he agrees with their assessment about the contentious debate, in which the candidates constantly interrupted each other and, at one point, Biden told Trump, "Will you shut up, man?"
Luntz said the focus group did not respond well to Biden's snap at Trump and questioned if such behavior was what they wanted as a replacement for Trump. They also didn't feel like they heard enough about the candidates' policies.
Meanwhile, Luntz said he doesn't think there could have been anything moderator Chris Wallace could have done to clean up the debate.
"Those candidates came there to fight," said Luntz. "They came there not to talk about economic policy, which is what viewers of the show want, what undecided voters want."
Both candidates will have "a lot of pressure on them" for the next debate, he continued.
"You do not have to be a hardcore Trump person or hardcore Biden person to believe that this debate was a success," said Luntz.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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