Hillary Clinton Regains Double-Digit Lead Over Trump
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has regained a double-digit lead over Republican challenger Donald Trump, according to a new survey released Friday by Reuters/Ipsos.
Pollsters found that 46.6 percent of likely voters are now planning to back Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, just 33.3 percent of those surveyed said they would be voting for reality TV star Donald Trump in November’s election. Notably, 20.1 percent of voters are not planning to support either presidential candidate.
Friday’s poll is only the latest in a string of surveys that suggest Trump’s base of support is considerably waning.
The presumed GOP nominee had enjoyed a noticeable boost in numbers thanks to his knee-jerk reaction to the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12. By using the shooting in order to validate his previous proposal of banning Muslims from setting foot on American soil, Trump had been able to cut Clinton’s lead down to just nine points.
Two weeks on, Clinton has clawed her way back into the double digits. She now maintains a comfortable 13.3 percent lead over Trump – which analysts suggest may be the least of Trump’s worries.
Trump attempted to alleviate fears by arguing he could tap into her personal wealth in order to bolster his campaign funds whenever he saw fit. Yet reporters have also called into question the ways in which Trump may be using campaign donations in order to drip-feed his own companies.
Last month, Trump’s campaign shelled out nearly $350,000 in order to pay for Trump’s private jets – and $432,372 in rental and catering fees at Trump’s Palm Beach mansion.
Trump’s finances haven’t been the only aspect of his campaign under scrutiny this week. On Monday, Trump turned heads after he fired controversial manager Corey Lewandowski. The move followed weeks of waning numbers, reactive strategy, and reported of infighting within the Trump campaign.
Trump has also been forced to battle continued resentment this week from prominent Republicans Paul Ryan and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker – who have started telling Republicans to vote with their “conscience” rather than telling them to back Trump.
Friday’s Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online across the week and surveyed 1,201 likely voters in all 50 states. Pollsters reported a margin of error of 3.3 points.
Yet as the survey closed on Thursday, it was unable to capture the potential polling ramifications of this week’s Brexit vote.
“I think it’s a great thing that’s happened. It’s an amazing vote, very historic,” Trump told reporters.
“People are angry all over the world. They’re angry over borders, they’re angry over people coming into the country and taking over and nobody even knows who they are.”
Yet Trump’s support for Britain’s historic may turn out to be misplaced. Within hours of Trump’s speech, the British Pound had dropped to a 30-year low and global markets lost around $2 trillion in value.
According to Trump, that economic fallout should benefit his own individual finances by bolstering numbers at his Scottish golf resorts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AJgQstpAyI
“Look if the pound goes down, they’re gonna do more business,” Trump said. “You know, when the pound goes down, more people are gonna come to Turnberry, frankly, and the pound has gone down, and let’s see what the impact of that is.”
[Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images]
