US nominee Clinton as unpopular with male voters as Trump is among women
HILLARY Clinton is nearly as unpopular with male voters as Donald Trump is among women, a poll has found.
Just 28 per cent of men view the former Secretary of State favourably, while 21 per cent of women approve of the presumptive Republican nominee.
If the polls are to be believed, Mrs Clinton and Mr Trump will be two of the least popular presidential nominees in history.
Mrs Clinton is perceived positively by less than one-third of American voters, according to the new poll from CBS, while just one-in-four view Mr Trump favourably.
But while much has been made of Mr Trump’s record disapproval rate among women, there are few, if any, high-profile US politicians who fare worse among men than Mrs Clinton. The disparity is due in part to the fact that women are generally more likely to support Democrats, and men Republicans. President Barack Obama has a job approval of 55 per cent among women compared with 47 per cent among men. But Bernie Sanders, Mrs Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, is about equally popular among men and women.
Gender has played a significant role in past general elections, including in 2012 when Mr Obama defeated Mitt Romney after gaining 56 per cent of the female vote.
However, given that Mrs Clinton is running to be the first female president and Mr Trump has made a series of comments widely perceived as sexist, the gender gap is likely to be more pronounced than ever in 2016. Despite Mr Trump’s continued struggles with female voters, polls say eight in 10 Republicans believe it is time for the party’s leaders to rally around the billionaire and opposition to him among the rank-and-file is crumbling.
Just 21 per cent of Republicans now view him unfavourably, compared with 36 per cent one month ago. He was endorsed by the National Rifle Association last night.
Democrats remain bitterly divided between Mrs Clinton and Mr Sanders, with the Vermont senator’s supporters growing more defiant by the day.
The two most recent national polls, Rasmussen and Fox News, show Mr Trump leading Mrs Clinton by five and three points respectively. Her lead in an aggregate of recent polls from Real Clear Politics has been cut from nine points to three in three weeks.