Undecided voters tend to make a decision after Harris-Trump debate

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris took the debate stage together for the first time on Tuesday.

For nearly two hours, the two argued about access to abortion, immigration and the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

There are only a few weeks left until the US presidential election and the candidates are already fighting a tough battle for the favor of undecided voters.

The BBC spoke to six voters who saw the debate as crucial in deciding who they would support in November.

We start with a voter who hesitantly supports the former president.

Vanessa was leaning toward Trump before the debate and still is, but was impressed by Harris’ performance.

I don’t think the debate changed my mind about voting for Trump, but I’m definitely less afraid if (Harris) wins because I think she can hold her own and debate well.

For me, nothing has changed overall, but I like it better now.

I lost a lot of faith in the Democratic Party when they told us everything was fine with Joe Biden. Then it turned out that wasn’t true. So it’s hard to trust this administration going forward.

I don’t want to vote for Trump, but I don’t like the current administration. I won’t change my mind before November, I’d just be less concerned if they won.

Jeremy doesn’t like Trump and didn’t vote Democrat in 2016 or 2020, but after today’s debate he says he will vote for Harris.

Tonight was the first night that I would say I was truly afraid of the prospect of a second Trump presidency.

His responses were that he repeatedly spread fear about immigrants killing dogs and spread fear about World War III. Every time he spoke, it was as scary as I’ve ever seen him be.

And while I don’t particularly like Harris and find her very fickle, unlike him, she does not pose an existential threat to America.

Tracy has been following the debate but is not yet sure who she will vote for.

In my opinion, both candidates spoke quite well, but I felt that Kamala answered more questions than Trump.

I had never seen anything on (Harris) before, so I was basically looking for an opinion on her. So I was pretty comfortable with some of what she said and actually what former President Trump said, but he gives me a very shady feeling.

I don’t trust (Trump). I don’t think he wants to run the country, I think he wants to own the country.

William felt the debate gave a clear picture of both candidates, but says that after watching it, he is leaning toward Harris.

Trump was completely confused. He was led into many questions that he should have answered perfectly, like immigration and abortion, but he was surprised with statements about the size of the crowd, which was really telling.

I got the impression that Kamala was far better prepared for this than Donald Trump.

Personally, I want to see her in more one-on-one interviews after this. This is the first time I’ve seen her without Tim Walz and I think she did a great job.

If she would get out there more often and have more one-on-one conversations with the nation, she would get my vote.

Rohan is still undecided, but says after the debate that he is 51 percent for Harris and 49 percent for Trump. Still, he says, there is still time to change that.

The debate didn’t change my opinion of Trump much. It was more of an audition for Kamala Harris to see who she is, where she stands politically, and how she commands the stage.

She seemed pretty rehearsed to me, but she made a lot of heated comments that I think really bothered Trump – made him a little unsettled and quite angry.

It all seemed very calculated to me and that wasn’t exactly what I was expecting from her. I wanted her to be a bit more personable and natural.

Chance was not very impressed with the debate performance and is still undecided.

I didn’t get the impression that the issues were discussed in depth. The candidates mostly talked at the same time.

I was really disappointed.

Personally, I wish they would explain their policies in more detail instead of attacking the other person for something in their policy.

Personally, I’m not a fan of either, but if I had to choose one or the other, I’d probably go with Harris.