Despite Debate Performance, Professionals Still Back President Biden

Despite a difficult showing in the first presidential debate, President Joe Biden and his campaign might not need to worry about one demographic: white-collar professionals.

Although 70 percent of more than 11,000 verified professionals surveyed by the professional social network Blind believed former President Donald Trump won the debate, a slight majority (51 percent) said they still plan to vote for President Biden.

“I’m voting for Biden no matter what,” said a verified Capital One professional in a live discussion of the presidential debate on Blind. “But agreed, [the debate is] not a good look.”

The professionals responding to Blind’s survey primarily work in the tech industry, which has typically favored more left-leaning causes and progressive candidates, like those advocated for by President Biden. According to the Blind survey, President Biden’s backing is highest at Cruise (73 percent), Affirm (67 percent), Dropbox (67 percent), Nike (67 percent), Indeed (65 percent), and Netflix (65 percent). Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-founder and executive chairman, is one of Biden’s most prominent financial contributors and supporters.

“Biden didn’t do well. He was way better debating Trump last term,” said a verified Netflix professional on Blind. “The performance actually changes nothing. Everyone has already made up their mind.”

In contrast, survey respondents most likely to vote for former President Trump tended to work in the automotive and financial services industries, including Tesla (70 percent), Lucid Motors (69 percent), Broadcom (67 percent), JPMorgan Chase (66 percent) and Visa (62 percent).

When asked about the most important problems facing the U.S. today, professionals in Blind’s survey overwhelmingly cited pocketbook issues, like concerns with high housing costs, inflation and its impact on the cost of living, and the perceived weakness of the job market.

Methodology

Blind surveyed 11,788 verified professionals in the U.S. on its platform from June 28 to July 1, 2024, to understand what they thought about the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

All survey respondents self-identified as having watched the first presidential debate and eligible to vote in the U.S. presidential election.

Survey respondents answered the following questions:

If you watched the U.S. presidential debate on Thursday, which candidate do you think won?

• Biden
• Trump
• I don’t know

If you had to choose, would you vote for Biden or Trump?

• Biden
• Trump

What do you think is the most important problem facing the U.S. today?

• (Open-ended question)