Hillary Clinton opens up double-digit lead as Donald Trump's poll numbers collapse


Donald Trump is returning from a weekend in Scotland to a terrible new poll from The Washington Post/ABC News, and while he'll likely ignore the survey, other Republicans might be concerned. In the poll, conducted June 20-23, Hillary Clinton opens up a 12-point lead, beating Trump 51 percent to 39 percent among registered voters; in the last Washington Post/ABC News survey in May, Trump led Clinton 46 percent to 44 percent. In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, also released Sunday, Clinton leads Trump by just 5 points, 46 percent to 41 percent.
Clinton's rise is due in part to supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders coming over to Clinton's side — in the May Washington Post/ABC News poll, 20 percent of Sanders voters said they would support Trump, versus 8 percent in the new poll — but mostly because of Trump's unforced errors. For example, 68 percent of voters (including 39 percent of Republicans) said Trump's comments about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a Trump University fraud lawsuit, were racist, and 85 percent said they were inappropriate, including 71 percent of Republicans. Voters approved of Clinton's response to the Orlando nightclub massacre over Trump's by an 18-point margin, and 66 percent of voters said Trump's comments about women, minorities, and Muslims are "unfairly biased."
It's not all great news for Clinton — 56 percent in the Washington Post/ABC poll disapprove of her handing of email while secretary of state, 18 percent who think Trump is racist plan to vote for him anyway, and Trump leads her 64 percent to 26 percent among the 56 percent of voters who want the next president to lead the country in a new direction. (Confusingly, President Obama's approval rating is 56 percent in the poll.) But 61 percent of voters said Clinton is qualified to be president, while 64 percent say Trump is not qualified, including 56 percent who say they feel that strongly and almost a third of Republicans.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In both the Washington Post/ABC poll, which has a margin of error of ±4 points, and the WSJ/NBC poll, with a ±3.1 points margin of error, 79 percent of Republicans backed Trump, while at least 85 percent of Democrats supported Clinton. When Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party's Jill Stein were included, Clinton's lead shrank to 1 point in the WSJ/NBC poll (Johnson: 10 percent; Stein 6 percent), while in the Washington Post/ABC poll she retained a 10-point lead over Trump (Johnson: 7 percent; Stein: 3 percent).
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Quiz of The Week: 23 – 29 August
Quiz Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Could robotic dogs help clear landmines?
Podcast Plus, what can we learn from a new approach to urban renewal? And how much power rests with political spouses?
-
Six major costs to cut as children go back to school
School supplies can be pricey but there are ways to keep costs down
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower
Speed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodus
Speed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Trump arms National Guard in DC, threatens other cities
speed read His next targets are Chicago, New York and Baltimore