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Vice President Harris’ Favorability is Net Positive, While Former President Trump’s Is Underwater By Double-digits

Friday, September 20, 2024 By Rachael Russell
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Poll: The Presidential Debate & The Parties

This Navigator Research report contains polling data on perceptions of the political landscape, including reactions to the presidential debate, and what Americans perceive as Congress’ primary focus.

More than four in five Americans engaged with the debate in some way.


More than four in five Americans saw something about the presidential debate, with more than half watching all or part of it live. 85 percent of Americans say they engaged with the debate in some way (59 percent watched part of all of it live – 26 percent watched, read, or saw news about it – 15 percent did not watch or engage with news at all). More people saw some of the debate live than the DNC Convention (40 percent) and President Biden’s State of the Union address (35 percent).

  • A majority of those who engaged with the debate (either live or from news coverage) reacted positively to Kamala Haris’ performance (net +22; 59 percent positive – 37 percent negative) while Trump’s performance ratings are the mirror image in negative territory.(net – 24; 36 percent positive – 60 percent negative). A plurality of independents viewed Harris’ performance positively (net +14; 40 percent positive – 26 percent negative), and Trump’s performance negatively (net -23; 22 percent positive – 45 percent negative).
Bar graph of polling data from Navigator Research. Title: More Than Four in Five Americans Saw Some of the Debate, Including a Majority Who Watched Some Live
Bar graph of polling data from Navigator Research. Title: Americans Rate Harris’ Presidential Debate Performance Positively, While a Majority Give Trump Negative Marks

Vice President Harris’ favorability has grown following the debate, while former President Trump’s is underwater by double-digits.


Harris is viewed favorably by half of Americans (net +3; 50 percent favorable – 47 percent unfavorable), a 10-point increase in favorability since June (40 percent favorable – 54 percent unfavorable). The increase in popularity largely comes from Democrats (from net +56 to net +83), as well as movement among independents (from net -36 to net -16). Trump’s favorability is 16 points upside down (41 percent favorable – 57 percent unfavorable), as he lost ground among independents (from net -30 to net -45 now; 23 percent favorable – 68 percent unfavorable). 

  • Over the past few days, three in four Americans have seen, read, or heard, “a lot” or “some” about former President Donald Trump (77 percent) and Vice President Harris (75 percent). 50 percent say that the news about Trump has been mostly negative, while a plurality have heard mostly positive news about Harris (42 percent).
Bar graph of polling data from Navigator Research. Title: Post-Presidential Debate, Harris Makes a Small Favorability Gain While Trump Lags
Bar graph of polling data from Navigator Research. Title: Three in Four Americans Are Hearing Negative Information About Trump, While Two in Three Are Hearing Positive on Harris
Word cloud from a Navigator open-end. Title: Trump’s Comments From the Debate – Including Conspiracies About Immigrants Eating Pets – Are Breaking Through

A majority of Americans continue to feel that inflation is the most important priority for Congress.


54 percent of Americans say that inflation should be a priority for Congress, including 64 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of independents, and 44 percent of Democrats. Behind inflation, independents prioritize jobs and the economy (47 percent), while Republicans prioritize immigration (63 percent), and Democrats prioritize abortion (41 percent). 

  • 58 percent of Americans believe that Congressional Republicans are most focused on immigration, while Congressional Democrats are most focused on abortion (53 percent). Similarly, Trump is seen as most focused on immigration (66 percent), while Harris is seen as most focused on abortion (58 percent).
Bar graph of polling data from Navigator Research. Title: Trump’s Focus Is Seen As Immigration, Harris’ As Abortion
Bar graph of polling data from Navigator Research. Title: Trump and Congressional GOP Seen As Prioritizing Immigration; Party Viewed As More Focused on Abortion Than Trump Is
Bar graph of polling data from Navigator Research. Title: Abortion Is Seen As Top Priority for Harris and Democrats, While Americans See Her as More Focused on Jobs Than Her Party Is

Bonus Finding: Post-Harris endorsement, Taylor Swift remains popular.


Following Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Harris, a majority of Americans continue to rate her favorably (net +15; 51 percent favorable – 36 percent unfavorable), however most Republicans rate Swift unfavorably (net -27), a 25-point swing since August (net -2). Unfavorability is most concentrated among Republican men over the age of 45 (net -46; 20 percent favorable – 66 percent unfavorable), while Republican men under the age of 45 are more divided (net -9; 41 percent favorable – 50 percent unfavorable).

Bar graph of polling data from Navigator Research. Title: Post-Harris Endorsement, Taylor Swift Remains Popular

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About The Study

Global Strategy Group conducted a public opinion survey among a sample of 1,003 registered voters from September 12-September 16, 2024. 106 additional interviews were conducted among Hispanic voters. 76 additional interviews were conducted among Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. 100 additional interviews were conducted among African American voters. 106 additional interviews were conducted among independent voters. The survey was conducted online, recruiting respondents from an opt-in online panel vendor. Respondents were verified against a voter file and special care was taken to ensure the demographic composition of our sample matched that of the national registered voter population across a variety of demographic variables. The margin of error for the full sample at the 95 percent level of confidence is +/- 3.1 percentage points. The margin of error for subgroups varies and is higher.

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About Navigator

In a world where the news cycle is the length of a tweet, our leaders often lack the real-time public-sentiment analysis to shape the best approaches to talking about the issues that matter the most. Navigator is designed to act as a consistent, flexible, responsive tool to inform policy debates by conducting research and reliable guidance to inform allies, elected leaders, and the press. Navigator is a project led by pollsters from Global Strategy Group and GBAO along with an advisory committee, including: Andrea Purse, progressive strategist; Arkadi Gerney, The Hub Project; Joel Payne, The Hub Project; Christina Reynolds, EMILY’s List; Delvone Michael, Working Families; Felicia Wong, Roosevelt Institute; Mike Podhorzer, AFL-CIO; Jesse Ferguson, progressive strategist; Navin Nayak, Center for American Progress Action Fund; Stephanie Valencia, EquisLabs; and Melanie Newman, Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

For press inquiries contact: press@navigatorresearch.org