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Hillary Clinton Vs. Donald Trump Polls: While Clinton Increases Her Lead Over Trump, Many Do Not Like Either Candidate

By Phillip Dengler
Published on: 09:53 PST, Aug 20, 2016

Republican nominee for president of the United States Donald Trump is falling even further behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that was released on Friday afternoon. The poll, which was conducted from August 14-18 and included samples of 1,119 and 1,118 likely voters, had a measure of accuracy of three percentage points.

“Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leads Republican rival Donald Trump by 8 percentage points among likely voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday. The Aug. 14-18 survey showed 42 percent of Americans supported Clinton ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. That compares with 34 percent support for Trump. Another 23 percent of likely voters would not pick either candidate.”

While Trump actually took the lead in the same Reuters/Ipsos poll after the Republican National Convention, Clinton has since pulled away. In addition to a strong Democratic National Convention, it appears as though Clinton’s message is resonating more with registered and likely voters.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Clinton led Trump by five percentage points in the Reuters/Ipsos poll that was taken from August 7-11. Only a week later, Clinton has increased her lead by three percentage points. This falls outside the margin of error, so Clinton should be viewed as ahead.

Even though it should be concerning for Trump that he is now down by eight percentage points, he was actually down by double digits throughout much of June. His comments regarding Pulse, the LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were murdered, hurt his likability among many potential voters. Additionally, he has furthered his stance to build the wall and ban people from entering the United States that are from countries with terrorism, so he is also alienating other potential voters who feel as though he is a racist and a bigot.

Regardless of his previous mistakes, it appears as though Trump may be softening his stances on certain issues. As CNN reports, Trump apologized for some of the comments that he has made during debates, many of which have hurt and offended large groups of people.

“Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it. And I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues.”

Whether or not this apology improves his favorability among voters remains to be seen, but Clinton is not exactly viewed as the ideal candidate by the American public either. While the FBI cleared Clinton of any criminal activity in the email scandal, they did refer to her as being “extremely careless.” For someone who is in the running to become the next president of the United States, that is not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Additionally, Trump has accused Clinton of pandering to African Americans for votes, as CBS Miami reports. In response, Clinton’s campaign stated that Trump is just projecting his own beliefs. Regardless of which candidate is right, it is obvious that both of them have trust issues with the American public.

As the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed, 23 percent of likely voters will not vote for Clinton or Trump. The other options, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Jill Stein of the Green Party, do not have a realistic chance to win the election. Regardless, they could take a significant percentage of the votes. This could potentially swing the election in favor of Clinton or Trump.

With less than three months until the election, the polls between Republican nominee for president of the United States Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton could continue to be volatile. If Trump backs off of his personal attacks and begins focusing more on the issues, things could get much closer over the next few weeks.

[Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images]

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