Veteran pollster Frank Luntz joined “Morning Joe” on Friday to discuss findings from a recent focus group he held with undecided Gen Z voters.
Luntz shared that, after watching the first — and likely only —presidential debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, he assumed a gap would open up in the polling between the two candidates.
“I had thought that Trump’s debate performance would disqualify him,” Luntz said. “I thought looking at the two candidates side by side, which the American people had been waiting weeks and months to see, that, just as Biden’s performance cost him the nomination, Trump’s performance would cost him the election.”
However, that wasn’t the case: Polls show Harris and Trump remain in a statistical dead heat.
“I had thought that Trump’s debate performance would disqualify him.”
Since the presidential race remains so close – especially in the seven battleground states that will likely decide the election – Luntz said undecided voters will be essential to either candidate’s path to victory, particularly young undecided voters.
“Make no mistake, we are on a pin’s edge right now and the essential key point of this is that who they vote for is the next president of the United States,” Lunz told the “Morning Joe” panel.
According to one young voter, Chris from Florida, Trump’s debate performance did impact how he plans to vote in November.
“I think I’m gonna vote for Kamala Harris,” Chris said. “I just can’t get over what happened in 2020 and what’s been reaffirmed in the debates and the general statements made during the campaign.”
“It’s not just the riot but the alternative slate of electors scheme is a bridge too far for me,” he went on to explain.
Another participant, Angelo from New York, said he was previously leaning toward Harris but is now floating the idea of writing another candidate’s name on the ballot.
“The more I look back into it, the more I watch the debate, the more I look into her campaign, I just cannot trust her,” he said. “I’m not gonna vote for Trump but the more I think about it, the more I just don’t know if I can vote for Harris.”
That wasn’t the case for Ayshah from Iowa, who told Luntz that if the election were held today, she would cast her ballot for Harris.








