Trump said to lose first TV debate decisively with combative performance

October 2, 2020. New York. – Media reaction to the first presidential debate has strongly focused on criticism of Trump, and his statement that seemed to offer support to the Proud Boys, a group described as racist by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has been a particular driver of negativity, according to new research from Media Tenor International.

On COVID-19, minorities, party politics, and values, Biden was portrayed as the winner. Trump was only shown having an advantage on domestic security and crime – topics which may help him with suburban voters.

“Trump’s debate performance has been presented as shocking by both journalists and other sources,” says Roland Schatz, founder and CEO of Media Tenor. “Biden has been received mostly positively, but his performance was not without criticisms. The media sought out fewer sources to comment on him, causing the debate story to be more focused on Trump, as he has to convince more voters than in 2016. Four years ago, he received 3 million fewer popular votes than Hillary Clinton and lost further ground in 2018. Now he is dealing with the loss of three times more Americans to COVID-19  than died in the Vietnam War, the less of 30 million jobs, and a performance in the first TV debate which all commentators (including on FOX) described as the worst ever due to his unpresidential behavior. Looking at the Media Tenor data on presidential election campaigns since 2000 there is little evidence that suggests he can make up the gap that currently has Biden in the lead in the remaining 5 weeks of campaigning. Once journalists are willing to be so sharply negative, they don’t change their minds quickly. If Trump can’t win over journalists or the people, the only remaining question is whether he can beat the system. And, if this weren’t bad enough for Trump and the GOP, there are too many respected individuals going public saying they’ll vote for Biden – which would be a killer for any candidate.”

For over 25 years Media Tenor's mission has been to contribute to objective, diverse, and newsworthy media content. Media Tenor's global research projects include analyses of election campaigns, investor relations, public diplomacy, corporate communications and other topics critical to news makers and news audiences.

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