Republican nominee for president of the United States Donald Trump continues to gain support against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a Reuters /Ipsos poll that was released on Friday night. The poll, which was conducted from August 26 to September 1 and included 1,804 likely voters from all 50 states, had a measure of accuracy of three percentage points. As usual, it was conducted online, and it shows a continuing trend of Clinton losing support in this particular poll.
“The poll showed 40 percent of likely voters supporting Trump and 39 percent backing Clinton for the week of Aug. 26 to Sept. 1. Clinton’s support has dropped steadily in the weekly tracking poll since Aug. 25, eliminating what had been an eight-point lead for her. Trump’s gains came as Republican support for their party’s candidate jumped by six percentage points over the past two weeks, to about 78 percent. That is still below the 85 percent support Republican nominee Mitt Romney enjoyed in the summer of 2012, but the improvement helps explain Trump’s rise in the poll.”
Trump’s one-point lead over Clinton still falls inside the credibility interval of three points, so both candidates are technically even. While both candidates have been fairly even in other polls, Clinton has consistently led Trump in the Reuters /Ipsos poll over the course of the past few months. Trump gained a slight lead after the Republican National Convention, but Clinton regained the lead after the Democratic National Convention. After numerous puzzling comments by Trump, it appeared as though Clinton would continue to build upon her lead.
Trump catches up to Clinton, latest Reuters/Ipsos poll finds https://t.co/aCYgCDnLNC pic.twitter.com/J51XADtEvW
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 3, 2016
Trump is still viewed in an unfavorable light by many potential voters, but Clinton is actually currently disliked by a higher percentage of people. In the poll, 57 percent of likely voters view Clinton in an unfavorable manner, which is the highest percentage in months. Trump’s likability is not much better, as 54 percent of voters view him as an unfavorable candidate.
Since neither candidate is held in high regard among Americans, voters are going to, in a sense, decide between the lesser of two apparent evils. On one hand, Trump is often viewed as a racist and a bigot because of his comments regarding minorities, Black Lives Matter, and illegal immigration. Questions have also arisen regarding Trump’s father, Fred, for refusing to rent to minorities in his apartments, as reported by Raw Story . The Daily Kos also reports that Trump was sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent to minority tenants.
Whether or not Trump is actually racist is a matter of personal opinion, but the perception is out there, and many potential voters feel as though he is. In addition to Trump’s negative perception, he also has a lack of experience in politics, and many people feel as though his presidency could be dangerous for the security of the United States.
While Trump has his flaws, Clinton is also not the ideal candidate. In addition to many potential voters feeling as though she is untrustworthy, the FBI referred to her as “extremely careless,” which is the last thing you want in a presidential candidate. The recent email scandal has even furthered the public’s negative perception of her.
As the Daily Wire reports, Clinton told the FBI that she was unaware of how classified intelligence works.
“Yes, that’s right – the Most Qualified Candidate In World History admitted to the FBI that she had no idea how classification worked. The FBI explained, ‘Clinton could not give an example of how classification of a document was determined… [she] did not recall receiving any emails she thought should not be on an unclassified system.’ She even said that a classified email regarding a drone strike in Pakistan didn’t present a problem: “Clinton stated deliberation over a future drone strike did not give her cause for concern regarding classification.”
For potential voters, Clinton is either lying or she truly does not know how classified intelligence works. Regardless of which one it is, those are two monumental red flags.
Three point lead in another #poll trending up. Trump 45.3 – Clinton 42.3 via @latimes pic.twitter.com/Zc6aCX3K2b
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) September 3, 2016
With November’s election a little over two months away, the polls between Republican nominee for president of the United States Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton should continue to be interesting. While neither candidate is particularly liked by the American people, one of them is going to come out on top in the end.
[Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images]