Donald Trump Polls: Feud With Ted Cruz, Violence At Rallies Sinking Trump’s Support Among Women Voters

Donald Trump has led Republican polls since almost the moment he entered the race last summer, but even as he’s on the verge of securing the GOP nomination, there are signs that Trump will face some giant challenges ahead.

Trump’s general election poll numbers have been on a steady decline as a string of controversies have turned off moderate voters, including one very important demographic. It has led many political pundits to see Trump’s situation as almost hopeless come November.

The poll numbers also present an interesting dichotomy for the Donald Trump campaign. Through his many controversies Trump has been almost untouchable among Republican primary voters, with his support steadily rising even amid his controversial statements about banning Muslims from entering the U.S. and his very public spats with Megyn Kelly, among others.

But while Trump has been almost unsinkable among his group of supporters, the wider public is growing increasingly put off to Trump’s antics. A series of new polls show that his support among women voters is plummeting, which Mashable attributes in part to the violence that has broken out at Trump’s rallies.

Many have pointed fingers at Trump for promoting this violence through his incendiary language, Mashable noted.

“After heavy media coverage of fights at his events and his repeated moves to egg on his backers as they get rough with protestors, Trump is now trailing Hillary Clinton by a gap that would be the largest in decades come election day.

“Clinton is clobbering Trump by double digits in five of the six national polls released this week, up from narrow leads she held for most of the campaign. Trump’s slide is being driven by women as the percentage of Americans with an unfavorable opinion of him continues to rise. And pollsters believe the violence at his rallies — not to mention his ongoing misogynistic rhetoric — may be scaring off Republican and independent female voters.

“‘There’s a possibility that the violence at the rallies has cut into his overall popularity,’ said Quinnipiac University Assistant Polling Director Tim Malloy.”

Many voters seem to agree. A survey from Malloy found that 64 percent of respondents believe Trump is very or somewhat responsible for the violence at his rallies. The survey also demonstrated Trump’s growing problems with women voters — a full 67 percent now view him unfavorably, up from 26 percent in the same survey last year.

There are other factors leading to Trump’s difficulties with women voters. His attacks on women — from Fox News host Megyn Kelly to his recent feud with Ted Cruz that included a very public call-out of his wife’s appearance — have contributed as well, pollsters say.

The controversies have led to difficulties across all general election voters. A recent poll from Bloomberg found that Trump’s total unfavorables reached 68 percent, Mashable noted.

“Trump’s numbers are bad and getting worse,” Bloomberg pollster J. Ann Selzer said. “A majority of Americans now describe their feelings toward him as very unfavorable. That’s a 13-point spike from November 2015.”

With his unfavorables reaching near-historic lows, Donald Trump is now in deep trouble of losing votes to third-party candidates. A new Monmouth University poll showed that Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson is gaining double-digit support, and pulling many votes away from Donald Trump to do it.

In the three-way contest, Johnson stood at 11 percent support, with Clinton at 42 percent and Trump at 34 percent.

“A vigorous third party campaign is a very real possibility this year, but it is not yet clear what the impact could be,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. “Including Johnson’s name in our polling seems to be more of a placeholder for voters who are not particularly thrilled with either major party choice right now.”

Donald Trump has problems in other polls, including ones showing 80 percent unfavorable numbers among Latino voters. Added up, it makes for what pundits say could be a blowout in November.

[Image via Instagram/Donald Trump]