AP-GfK Poll: Americans Trust Hillary Clinton More Than Donald Trump On Key Issues
At a time when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are sweating over winning their respective party primaries in their home state New York, a new Associated Press-GfK poll indicates that Americans trust the Democratic presidential front-runner more than the Republican leader to handle a wide range of issues like immigration, health care, and nominating Supreme Court justices, reports The Washington Post.
Even when the voters were asked which of the two candidates would be better qualified at “making American great,” the key promise of Trump’s campaign, 33 percent of them picked Clinton and only 28 percent backed Trump. Thirty percent said they don’t believe either of them can make that happen.
The survey exposes some potential trouble spots for the former First Lady as well. When it comes to handling the economy, which Americans consistently rank as one of the top issues facing the country, the real-estate tycoon is trusted by 35 percent while 38 percent of Americans side with Clinton, a meager lead of three percent.
Corrected graphics for the new AP-GfK poll are upcoming. In the meantime, here's our story: https://t.co/Fn1LMAx15A
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) April 11, 2016
More surprisingly, less than 50 percent of the registered Republican voters trust Trump over Clinton on issues like working with Congress or handling the U.S. image abroad. About 25 percent of Republicans say they trust neither candidate on either of those issues.
These statistics underscore the work that Trump has to do to shore up support within the GOP if he has to be the party’s nominee.
Greg Freeman, a 41-year-old independent with Republican-leaning from Walhalla, South Carolina, said he would “absolutely not” trust Trump to handle major issues facing the United States.
“I think he would have the U.S. in wars at the drop of a hat. He would make the international community angry at the United States… He has a lot of comments on issues, but he has no solutions.”
The former New York Senator’s biggest advantage is on handling gender equality issues, with 55 percent of Americans trusting her compared to just 12 percent backing the Republican candidate.
There's only one candidate in this race with more votes than Donald Trump. https://t.co/O5YkpXhy8y pic.twitter.com/UW253MHt5f
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 7, 2016
While most trends suggest Hillary and Donald are the favorites to face off in the fall campaign, challenges are yet to be over, particularly for the Republican billionaire. Although he’s leading in the delegate count, he needs to do better in the upcoming final primaries in order to reach the 1,237 delegates needed to seal the nomination. Otherwise, he will have to confront a contested Republican convention scheduled in July, a complex challenge for which Trump doesn’t seem to be well-prepared for.
On the Democratic front, Clinton has yet to fend off the Bernie Sanders phenomenon. The Vermont senator has so far succeeded in winning young voters with his calls for breaking up Wall Street banks and making tuition free at public colleges and universities. Thus, Sen. Sanders’ persistent presence in the race has rankled the former Secretary of State and has so far distracted her from focusing on the general election.
“I’m really looking forward to debating either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz… Mr. Trump, tell me again about how you’re going to build this wall and make the Mexicans pay for it. Tell me again why you think it’s a good idea for Japan and South Korea to develop nuclear weapons.”
The AP-GfK poll on voters’ trust for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on issues was conducted by GfK Public Affairs and Corporate Communications on March 31-April 4. The findings were based on online interviews of 1,076 adults.
[Photo by Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images]
