Gap between Clinton and Trump narrows in major poll
Democrat’s lead down to 3-point margin in Times/CBS survey, but ABC poll shows her regaining slim majority after slipping behind
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A major new poll of American likely voters suggests that with less than a week to the election, the gap between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump has narrowed.
According to the Times/CBS poll, 45 percent of likely voters support Clinton, while 42% support Trump. The pollsters noted that the gap is within the poll’s margin of error.
A second key poll Thursday, by ABC/Washington Post, seemed to reverse the trend against frontrunner Clinton. Last week, the group’s poll had found Trump leading Clinton, albeit by one percentage point, for the first time since revelations of sexual assault allegations against the Republican candidate. In the newest poll, Clinton regains the lead, though also by a slim margin. The Democrat wins the support of 47% of likely voters, while Trump polled at 45%.
Following the release of a tape in mid-October in which the Republican nominee could be heard boasting of sexually assaulting women, and the subsequent accusations by 13 women that he had sexually harassed or assaulted them, Trump’s numbers nosedived, with one poll by ABC done shortly after the release of the tape giving Clinton a 12-point advantage.
That was followed by a scandal for Clinton, with FBI Director James Comey revealing in a letter to Congress in late October that the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails could be reexamined after emails from senior Clinton aide Huma Abedin were found during an FBI probe into her estranged husband, disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner. Clinton’s lead took a hard hit with the revelations.
Six in ten likely voters asked in the Times/CBS poll said that the candidates’ respective scandals will not have an impact on how how they vote. Four in ten said Trump’s comments and treatment of women made them less likely to support him, while three in ten said Clinton’s latest email scandal made them less likely to support her.
The Times/CBS poll also noted that at this stage in the 2012 election, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney were polling even. Obama went on to win the election by a four-point margin.
According to Real Clear Politics, which aggregates major polls, Clinton leads Trump by a 1.9-point margin on average, at 45.3% to Trump’s 43.4%.
The Times of Israel Community.