Voters are expecting former President Donald Trump to do "very well" during Thursday’s debate, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll.
Six in 10 registered voters believe Trump will do “very well” or “somewhat well” compared to just 46% for President Joe Biden, according to the survey released Wednesday.
The debate is expected to be heavily watched. According to the poll, 74% say they intend to watch compared to 22% not watching.
The economy is expected to be one of the top issues discussed during the debate. According to the poll, 22% said the economy was the top issue that could decide their vote, with immigration second at 16%. The poll found 51% believe Trump would do a better job of handling the issue they care most about, compared to 37% for Biden.
Voters also expect Trump to be reelected to a second term, with 48% believing he will win, compared to 38% for Biden.
At the debate, Biden will have to assuage voters' concerns about his age. The poll found 69% of voters think Biden is too old to be an effective president compared to 39% who think Trump is too old to be an effective president.
Voters also think neither Biden nor Trump have the right temperament to be president. Fifty-one percent said they didn’t think Biden had the right temperament, compared to 53% for Trump.
The poll also found 55% believe Trump has committed serious crimes and 46% of voters agreed with the guilty verdict in Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial.
Overall, Trump has a 4-point edge over Joe Biden entering their debate, 48% to 44%. Trump's lead with registered voters is 6 percentage points.
The candidates were neck-and-neck in a New York Times/Siena poll released in April.
This poll surveyed 1,226 registered voters from June 20-23. The margin of sampling error for the registered voters is plus or minus 3 points.