Previously undecided voter tells Scripps News why she's now voting for Trump after the debate

After Tuesday night's presidential debate, polls now suggest nearly every American knows how they will vote in the 2024 election. But in what has shaped up to be a very tight race, a small number of undecided voters could be the deciding factor in who is elected president.

One of those people is Kay Earnst of Pennsylvania — a critical swing state this election cycle. She told Scripps News before the debate that she still hadn't decided on who she would vote for. But she joined us again after the debate and explained why she's now going to vote for Trump.

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"I think on presentation, Kamala Harris definitely, definitely won. As far as content, I think Donald Trump bested her, as far as that is concerned," Earnst said. "My biggest takeaway from the whole thing, forget all of that, is the vice president put on her prosecutor hat — and she did good, it's her thing — the problem for me is that their job is to advocate for the victim and I don't see America as a victim and I don't think we need someone to advocate for us."

"I think America charts her own course and right now I think what we need is a leader," Earnst continued. "And Donald Trump — like him or hate him — he has that innate quality."

According to a survey by the Washington Post, 23 of 25 uncommitted voters said Vice President Kamala Harris outperformed former President Donald Trump in the debate. But viewers interviewed by the New York Times said that while Harris appeared more presidential than Trump, she needed to do more to differentiate herself from President Biden before they could decide whether to support her.

It's a concern echoed by Earnst, who said she wanted to hear more about how Harris would approach the immigration crisis — a top priority for many Americans heading to the polls in November.

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"I do feel the empathy to bring so many people into our country is good and is rooted in a good place," she said. "It's just, it's too much...It just seems that he [Trump] is more active on 'OK, let's shut the border, let's figure out what we're going to do now.' And she [Harris] didn't say what she would do going forward as far as immigration is concerned. She had no real statement on that."

And with just 53 days now until the election, time is running out for both candidates to make their final appeals to those undecided voters that could swing the election either way.

You can watch Scripps News' full interview with Kay Earnst in the video player above.