‘Absolutely voting for Trump’: undecided voters react to Biden debate performance

A group of US voters who were unable to choose between Joe Biden and Donald Trump before Thursday’s presidential debate delivered their verdicts after the contest, and it was almost universally bad news for Biden.

Of the 13 “undecideds”, 10 described the 81-year-old Democratic president’s performance against Republican candidate Trump collectively as feeble, befuddled, embarrassing and difficult to watch.

Gina Gannon, 65, a retiree in the battleground state of Georgia, voted for Trump in 2016 before ditching him for Biden in 2020.

“Joe Biden looked very weak and confused right from the start. It concerns me that our global enemies see Joe Biden in this manner. I was shocked and dismayed. I hate to see our president acting that way on TV and in front of the world,” Gannon said.

She added: “I am absolutely voting for Donald Trump now.”

Presidential debates typically have limited influence on voters, but Biden and Trump are in a tight race and the election is likely to be decided by just thousands of votes in a handful of swing states. Both candidates need to win over the relatively small number of voters who have not yet decided who to vote for. Biden delivered a shaky, faltering performance while Trump battered him with a series of often false attacks. Biden’s poor showing rattled his fellow Democrats and is likely to deepen voter concerns that he is too old to serve another four-year term.