About 67 million people watched Tuesday night’s debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Washington State University researchers had their eye on 36 of them, a mix of Republicans and Democrats.
Paul Bolls, the co-director of the Media Mind Lab in Washington State University’s Murrow College of Communication, and professor and researcher Yen-I Lee wanted to see how the group would react to what they were watching.
Bolls says the cohort was split evenly between Harris and Trump supporters. They wore ring-like sensors that monitored their emotional responses as they watched the debate.
“The Trump campaign, so far, is not able to get Republicans to perceive Harris as a threat the way the Harris campaign seems to be getting Democrats to pretty strongly perceive that Trump is a threat,” Bolls said.
Bolls says he did a similar test back in 2016 and analyzed emotional responses to Trump and the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. He says that debate showed stronger feelings among observers than this year’s version.
“Back then, in 2016 it was clear that Trump was able to get Republicans highly and strongly unfavorably activated against Clinton, and that does not appear to be happening in this election,” he said.
Bolls says each participant was awarded a $50 gift card and asked a few questions after the debate — including if they would donate any of the money from their gift card to their preferred candidate.
Democrats were more likely to donate their money, an average of $10, while the average Republicans said they would donate $5, although there were multiple people from both parties who weren't willing to donate.
“What that tells me is that this emotional resonance in Democrats Harris activated does translate into a higher likelihood of energizing subsequent political behavior, and that's not happening as much with Republicans and their candidate Trump,” Bolls said.
Monica Carrillo-Casas is a rural affairs reporter for Spokane Public Radio and the Spokesman-Review. She is a Murrow Fellow associated with a Washington State University program that works to supplement local newsrooms.
