13 percent of voters say the presidential debate could change their minds, poll shows

(Image credit: ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Nearly three-quarters of American voters said they'll tune in to watch Tuesday's first presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden live, a Monmouth University poll released Monday reveals.

Don't expect too many minds to change because of the performance — just 3 percent of those surveyed said the debate is "very likely" to influence their vote, 10 percent said it's "somewhat likely" to do so, and 87 percent said it's "not likely." But those figures are actually almost the exact same as in 2016, so given how that race unfolded, there does seem to be at least some intrigue surrounding the debate.

As for where those voters stand at the moment, per the Monmouth poll, Trump is slowly gaining on Biden, now trailing by six points among registered voters and five points among likely voters.

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The Monmouth University poll was conducted over the phone between Sept. 24-27 with 809 registered voters responding. The margin error was 3.5 percentage points. Read the full results here.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.