More bad polling news for presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump: a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has regained a double-digit lead over Trump. And it shows a big chunk of voters don’t plan (at this point) to vote at all:
Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton regained a double-digit lead over Republican rival Donald Trump this week, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.
The June 20-24 poll showed that 46.6 percent of likely American voters supported Clinton while 33.3 percent supported Trump. Another 20.1 percent said they would support neither candidate.
Trump had enjoyed a brief boost in support following the June 12 mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, as he doubled down on his pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country, cutting Clinton’s lead to nine points.
But Trump’s rise in popularity appeared to be only temporary, unlike his lasting surge among the Republican field last year after the attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino, California.
Clinton’s 13.3 percentage point lead is about the same as she had before the Orlando attack.
Trump’s slip this week came as he struggled to show that he can keep up with a Clinton campaign apparatus that has dwarfed his in size and funding.
Campaign finance disclosures released earlier this week showed Trump started June with a war chest of just $1.3 million, a fraction of Clinton’s $42 million. Trump sought to ease concerns among his allies by saying that he could tap his “unlimited” personal wealth if needed, and also by bolstering efforts to raise money through fundraising events and online donations.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders including House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker continued to express reservations about their new standard bearer, who has angered some in the party with his fiery rhetoric.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell added yet another pointed bit of advice to Trump today:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) continues to be concerned about Donald Trump’s chances in November, given the GOP nominee’s inability to stick to a script and his meager fundraising haul in May.
“It’s no secret that he’s struggling. As you and I are talking today, we just saw his latest financial report and there’s not much money in there. He’s earned the nomination, but in order to be elected president, he needs to pivot and start acting like — presidential,” McConnell said in a Friday episode of GOP consultant Ben Mathis’ podcast, KickAss Politics, according to audio highlighted by Buzzfeed News.
According to FEC filings, Trump raised $3.1 million in May and had just $1.3 million cash-on-hand, whereas Hillary Clinton raised $26.4 million in May and has $42.5 million cash-on-hand
McConnell also lamented that Trump doesn’t like to use a script in his public appearances, something the majority leader has complained about before.
“For example, there’s nothing wrong with using a script, most candidates for president use a script. It’s how you remember everything you want to say,” McConnell said on the KickAss Politics podcast. “I think just kind of going from rally to rally and winging it may have worked in the primary but it’s not going work in the general.”
“I’ve endorsed him because he’s earned the nomination, but he needs to start acting like a serious candidate for president if he wants to win the election,” he added.
There were signs and promises that Trump would be getting his act together and a run more mainstream campaign. But his widely panned reaction to Great Britain leaving the European Union — he seemed to be more interested in pitching his businesses and looked like the 10th choice from central casting to play the role of a President on a straight to video cheapo movie — will not help him.
But one poll does not a trend make. Even so, the trending for Trump’s numbers aren’t good. Here’s The Huffington Post’s Pollster average of polls graph:
graphic via shutterstock.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.