A Fox News focus group just torched Donald Trump after the debate

A Fox News panel of Republican voters had harsh sentiments for real-estate magnate Donald Trump's performance during the first Republican presidential debate Thursday night.

Following the debate, Fox's panel of 23 Republican voters voiced their overwhelming disapproval with Trump, citing his "mean" personality and veiled threat to run as a third-party candidate.

"You know, what happened, I liked him when I came in here because he wasn't a politician. But right now, he skirted around questions better than a lifelong politician ever had," one respondent told Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who conducted the focus group.

Added another respondent who Luntz identified as Anthony: "I was really expecting him to do a lot better. But he just crashed and burned. He was mean, he was angry, he had no specifics, he was bombastic."

Before the debate, 14 voters on the panel said that they had a favorable view of Trump. After the debate, only three said that they still saw the reality-television personality positively.

Trump's refusal to pledge that he would back the eventual Republican nominee did not go over well with the Fox News panel, either.

"I was repulsed by it. If he runs third party, Republicans lose. Period," one respondent said.

"It's a divide-and-conquer strategy, basically. He's splitting the party. He's basically going to take away focus from the candidate who's going to be leading," another respondent said.

Fox's post-debate coverage was particularly tough on Trump. Multiple pundits bashed Trump's performance.

This wasn't lost on Trump's campaign.

On Twitter, Michael Cohen, an executive vice president and special counsel to Trump's organization, took aim at Luntz and at Fox.

Some polling analysts pointed to the focus group as an example that many voters haven't been paying much attention to the election, which they have suggested may be inflating Trump's poll numbers. The consensus among pollsters is that Trump's high name-recognition has helped him shoot to the front of the pack.