Undecided 2016 Trump voter tells CNN that Biden's 'clown' dig at Trump was fair and accurate

Kevin thinks Joe Biden won the first debate
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/CNN)

The snap polls after Tuesday's first presidential debate between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden gave Biden the win. But lots of people just thought America lost.

CNN's Ana Cabrera watched the "exhausting" debate with 14 undecided voters in Ohio, and "we saw a lot of grunts, we saw head-shaking, we saw eye-rolling, especially in those moments of large interruptions and a little bit of the back-and-forth," she told Anderson Cooper.

A voter named Kevin, who says he voted for Trump in 2016, called the debate a "train wreck, disaster," saying "the whole interrupting started with him — President Trump was very childish." He said he "was also disappointed that Joe Biden got drawn in, but I can also understand how difficult it would be not to when you're hearing, you know, that kind of stuff — crazy stuff about his family that's so clearly not true. How you gonna leave that unspoken and not say anything against it. So I get it, but it was too bad."

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"But did it bother you at all to hear Joe Biden calling the sitting president of the United States names, calling him a 'clown' and that type of thing?" Cabrera asked. "You know, I think we've pretty much gotten past that now, haven't we?" Kevin replied. "I mean, he's spent the last five years calling Elizabeth Warren 'Pocahontas' and, you know, talking about AOC and all the other people, and so is it great that Joe called him a clown? No, but when the shoe fits — when the clown shoe fits." The next undecided voter said calling Trump a clown was "out of pocket and I just don't agree with it."

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Kevin was the only one who said Biden won the debate, while two other voters said Trump came out on top. But "nobody felt really good about what they heard tonight," Cabrera said, and "the majority of this group tells me there was no winner tonight."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.