President Donald Trump’s angry, snarling performance at Tuesday’s presidential debate in Cleveland didn’t sit well with viewers, and a CNN instant poll conducted immediately after Trump squared off against Joe Biden shows that the incumbent was a giant flop, according to Mediaite:

“After an hour and a half of wild clashes between the two candidates, CNN’s polling participants overwhelmingly favored Biden with 60 percent saying the ex-veep won, compared to 28 percent saying Trump won. CNN political director David Chalian noted, in his reporting of the poll, that 39 percent of the participants were Democrats, 36 percent were independent, and 25 percent were Republican. The survey had a 6.3 percent margin of error.

“The poll also indicates Trump underperformed since 43 percent of the debate watchers expected him to win, while Biden scored a 4 percent increase from his pre-debate expectations mark of 56 percent.”

CNN’s Dana Bash noted that the post-debate poll is proof-positive Trump hurt himself badly:

“I think the fact that — the fact that the expectations in this instant poll, versus the reality of what the people who are part of this saw, is really telling. So before the debate, 56% of the people said that they thought that Joe Biden would win. But afterwards, 60%. And then, more importantly, making your point, Jake, 43% said that they thought Trump would win. But afterwards, 28%. It was Donald Trump’s debate to lose and he lost it.”

The CNN poll comports with a focus group conducted by Frank Luntz, who asked viewers to describe both Trump and Biden with one word after they watched the contentious 90-minute showdown, HuffPost notes. Here’s what they said about Trump:

“Horrid,” “chaotic,” “unpolished,” “crackhead,” “eh,” “puzzling,” “Un-American,” “unhinged” (twice), “an ass, but a confident ass,” “classic Trump,” “forceful,” “bully,” “arrogant” (twice) and “typical.”

About Biden:

“Surprised at how well he did,” “better than expected,” “more professional,” “confident,” “politician” (twice), “restraint and compassion,” “predictable” (three times), “nice guy but lacking vision,” “coherent,” “leader,” “attentive and rehearsed,” “evasive” and “humanity and integrity.”

Trump desperately needed to shake up the 2020 race and gain ground on Biden. But all he did was light himself on fire and call into question his fitness for office.

Featured Image Via CNN