April 24, 2024: Eighty-two percent (82%) of voters say that they already know enough about President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to make a decision in this year's election. A Scott Rasmussen national survey conducted by RMG Research found that another 13% aren't likely to watch the debates. Fewer than 1% of voters think it's very likely a debate between the two candidates could change their minds.
The survey also found that 58% say the debates would be better if the television hosts talked less and the candidates were given more time to express their views.
Methodology
The survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on April 15-16, 2024. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation's population of registered voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points.
Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left nearly a decade ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Survey Questions
Thinking about the election between President Biden and former President Trump, do you already know enough about the candidates to make a decision on who to vote for?
- 82%-Yes
- 10%-No
- 8%-Not sure
[Of those who say No or Not sure] How likely is it that you would make your voting decision based upon a debate between Presidents Biden and Trump?
- 4%-Very likely
- 33%-Somewhat likely
- 26%-Not very likely
- 9%-Not at all likely
- 28%-Not sure
What about if candidates were allowed to ask direct questions of each other? Would that make the debates better or worse?
- 24%-Much better
- 38%-Somewhat better
- 16%-Somewhat worse
- 10%-Much worse
- 13%-Not sure
Would the presidential debates be better if the television hosts talked less and the candidates were given more time to express their views more fully?
- 58%-Yes
- 22%-No
- 20%-Not sure
Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is a political analyst, author, public speaker, independent public opinion pollster and a columnist. Read Scott Rasmussen's Reports — More Here.