Hillary Clinton has opened up a six-point lead over Donald Trump, erasing the New York billionaire’s slim national edge with five weeks until Election Day, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll of likely voters. Clinton leads Trump 42-36 in the four-way race for the White House. Gary Johnson garnered 9 percent, Jill Stein got 2 percent and 10 percent remain undecided. It’s a dramatic bump for Clinton: Trump led by one point before the debate, and in a POLITICO/Morning Consult survey conducted immediately after the debate, Clinton led by four points.
Clinton’s lead comes at the tail end of a particularly tough week for Trump. His debate performance was uneven and widely panned by Republicans and Democrats alike. He then spent a few days chiding Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe, for gaining weight nearly two decades ago.
The episode broke through — 74% heard of Trump’s comments about Machado — and it appears to have hurt Trump’s standing with women. 55% of women said it gives them a less favorable view of Trump, and 43% of voters said the incident makes them less likely to support Trump.
But, according to the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, there’s peril in that approach. 56% of voters say it would be inappropriate to bring up Clinton’s affairs. 62% of females say it would be inappropriate. 60% said it’s inappropriate to discuss the other candidate’s spouse.
Trump and Clinton don’t meet for another head-to-head matchup until Sunday’s debate at Washington University in St. Louis.
Most voters say they will watch the contest, but few have expectations about who will prevail. 68% of those polled said it was very likely or somewhat likely they’d tune in to the debate. But 52% say they don’t know or don’t have an opinion on who will win.