Even some of former President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters seem worried he lost Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Trump’s Truth Social network, plunged more than 16% on Wednesday morning to a record low. The shares recovered a bit by mid-afternoon, but were still down more than 12%.
Trump Media’s shares have been extremely volatile since their public debut in March, as their performance has turned into something of a Wall Street weathervane about the former president’s election prospects. Trump owns almost 60 percent of the company, and its other investors tend to be among his most fervent supporters.
But it’s not just Trump Media shareholders who now appear to give Harris the edge in last night’s debate. Investors broadly appear to think that the vice president improved her chances of a November victory, according to several closely-watched stock-market indicators.
The prices of Bitcoin and of several cryptocurrency-related stocks, including Coinbase, also fell on Wednesday morning, before partly recovering by mid-afternoon.
Trump has embraced crypto in this election cycle, and is generally seen as the more pro-crypto candidate. (Harris has also garnered some support from crypto investors, but has been less outspoken about digital currencies than Trump – who is also reportedly involved in starting a crypto business.)
Meanwhile, online bettors also think the odds are now in Harris’s favor: Users of the online betting market PredictIt pushed her chances of winning to 55 percent by Wednesday afternoon, while Trump’s chances fell to 48 percent.
Other betting markets were more muted, but are also putting their post-debate money on Harris: She overtook Trump across online oddsmakers on Wednesday, according to an average of betting markets by RealClearPolitics.
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