A group of U.S. voters who could not choose between Joe Biden and Donald Trump before Thursday’s presidential debate delivered their verdicts after the contest, and it was almost universally bad news for the incumbent president.

Of the 13 “undecideds” who spoke to Reuters, 10 described the 81-year-old Democratic president’s performance against Republican candidate Trump collectively as feeble, befuddled, embarrassing and difficult to watch.

Gina Gannon, 65, a retiree in the battleground state of Georgia, voted for Mr Trump in 2016 before ditching him for Mr Biden in 2020. Ms Gannon said she was “shocked and dismayed” to see Mr Biden act “weak and confused” on TV.

“Joe Biden looked very weak and confused right from the start. It concerns me that our global enemies see Joe Biden in this manner.

She added, “I am voting for Donald Trump now.”

Presidential debates typically have limited influence on voters, but Messrs Biden and Trump are in a tight race, and the election will likely be decided by just thousands of votes in a handful of swing states.

Both candidates need to win over the relatively small number of voters who have yet to decide who to vote for.

Mr Biden delivered a shaky, faltering performance while Mr Trump battered him with a series of often false attacks.

The incumbent president’s poor showing rattled his fellow Democrats and will likely deepen voter concerns that he is too old to serve another four-year term.

Seven of the nine voters who were dismayed by Mr Biden’s performance told Reuters they were now leaning towards Mr Trump because they no longer believe he can perform his duties as president.

Three said they would vote for Mr Trump in his November 5 election rematch with Mr Biden, even though two said they do not like the former Republican president.

Meredith Marshall, 51, a self-employed resident of the Los Angeles area, said the debate left her in shock.

She voted for Mr Biden in 2020 but is now leaning toward Mr Trump, given what she described as the president’s lack of mental acuity.

“God forbid if my choices are as they stand right now based on this debate. Hands down, I would vote for a liar and a convict over a person who doesn’t seem to be all there mentally.”

According to the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, about 20 per cent of voters say they have not picked a candidate in this year’s presidential race, are leaning toward third-party options, or might not vote at all.

Reuters interviewed 15 such voters ahead of Thursday’s debate, and they agreed to be interviewed again after the event about whether the debate changed their views. It was not all bad news for Mr Biden.

Ashley Altum, a 28-year-old mental healthcare manager from South Carolina, was torn between Mr Biden and a third-party candidate before the debate. Now, she is leaning more towards Mr Biden.

“I did see Biden slipping up quite a bit, but I’m always surprised more people don’t in these situations,” she said. “I think that anybody could go up there and speak eloquently is impressive to begin with.”

Mr Biden pointed out in the debate that Mr Trump, at 78, is only three years younger.

“But Trump was just Trump. From a cognitive decline perspective, I didn’t see that in Trump,” said Tom Reich, 36, a software engineer from South Carolina.

The issues of age and mental capacity exploded onto the campaign trail in February following a report by a Department of Justice special counsel that suggested Mr Biden was suffering memory lapses.

“What a disaster for the Democrats,” Scott Harrington, 63, a fishmonger in Massachusetts, said after watching the debate.

“I was basically undecided but was hoping Biden would have been good enough, so I could vote for him. I dislike Trump intensely.

“I was worried Biden would show he was not up to the job, but he was even worse than I feared. I might just abstain,” he added.

(Reuters/NAN)