Voters in 13 battleground states who tuned in to the third and final presidential debate Wednesday night thought Hillary Clinton was the clear winner, according to an immediate post-debate poll by CBS News.
Forty-nine percent of respondents identified Clinton as the victor following her final face-off against Donald Trump, while 39 percent thought the Republican nominee came out on top. Twelve percent of respondents thought the two candidates performed at the same level.
The most-talked about moment of the 90-minute debate, when Trump refused to commit to accepting the election results, did not settle well with voters in crucial swing states, most of whom said accepting the election results is something both candidates should do.
Trump supporters, however, were divided on whether their candidate made the right decision in saying he would determine whether to accept the election results “at the time” of the Nov. 8 election. Thirty-three percent said he should accept them, compared to 36 percent who said it was wise for him to avoid making that pledge.
Across the states surveyed, more self-identified Democrats tuned in to watch the final debate than Republicans. Thirty-five percent of respondents described themselves as Democrats, 28 percent said they were Republicans and 35 percent said they were independent voters.
The CBS News poll of 934 registered voters in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin was conducted from Oct. 16-18. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
