Washington: Democratic US Vice President Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump 47 per cent to 42 per cent in the race to win the November 5 presidential election, increasing her advantage after a debate against the former president that voters largely think she won, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Thursday.

The two-day poll showed Harris with a lead of 5 percentage points among registered voters, just above the four-point advantage she had over Trump in an August 21-28 Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Among voters who said they had heard at least something about Tuesday’s debate, 53 per cent said Harris won and 24 per cent said Trump won, with the rest saying neither had or not answering.

Fifty-two per cent of those familiar with the debate said Trump stumbled and didn’t appear sharp, while 21 per cent said that of Harris. Among Republican voters, one in five said Trump didn’t appear sharp.

Harris, 59, put Trump, 78, on the defensive in a combative presidential debate with a stream of attacks on his fitness for office and his myriad legal woes, highlighting Trump’s felony conviction on charges he falsified business records.

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The poll found 52 per cent of voters familiar with the debate said Harris “gave the impression of having higher moral integrity”, compared to 29 per cent who said the same of Trump.

Many Republicans were also not convinced about their candidate’s performance in the debate in Philadelphia. Fifty-three per cent of Republican voters in the poll said Trump won the debate, compared to 91 per cent of Democrats who said she was the victor. Among Republicans, 31 per cent said no one won and 14 per cent said Harris got the better of Trump.

The debate, hosted by ABC News, attracted 67.1 million television viewers, according to Nielsen data, topping the roughly 51 million people who watched Trump debate then-candidate President Joe Biden in June.