Dogged by a string of recent revelations regarding the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the US State Department during her tenure as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s favorability rating among voters has plummeted over the past few weeks, dropping to its lowest level ever.
According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, just 38% of voters say they view Mrs. Clinton favorably, compared to 59% who say they have an unfavorable view of the former First Lady.
That puts Clinton on par with GOP nominee Donald Trump, whose favorability ratings are also underwater among registered voters, with 37% saying they viewed him in a positive light, compared to 60% who did not.
The poll marks a steep decline for the Democrat, who held a robust lead over Trump at the beginning of the month. In the previous poll, Clinton enjoyed a favorability rating of 46% among registered voters, with 52% having an unfavorable opinion. Trump, on the other hand, had slightly worse ratings than today, with 36% viewing him favorably and 61% unfavorably.
Clinton’s biggest decline came among women voters, a majority of whom viewed her positively just a few weeks ago. In early August female registered voters gave her a +11 favorability rating, 54% to 43%. That flipped, however, by the end of August, with just 45% saying they saw her favorably, compared to 52% who did not.
Over the past two weeks a steady flow of revelations regarding Mrs. Clinton and allegations of “pay-to-play” arrangements enabling foreign entities to buy influence with the then-Secretary of State have eroded her standing in the polls, cutting a once-significant lead over Trump almost in half.
Last week the Associated Press revealed that more than half of all meetings Clinton held as Secretary of State with non-governmental officials involved individuals or representatives of organizations that had made large donations to the Clinton Foundation. Spokespersons for the Clinton campaign dismissed the report as “cherry-picking”, with the former Secretary of State saying there was “lots of smoke but no fire”.
Nevertheless, Wednesday’s USC Dornsife/LA Times poll showed Trump leading Clinton 45-42. Even among polls still showing Mrs. Clinton ahead, her lead has been significantly reduced. While Clinton lead Trump by 7.6 points in early August according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, that same index showed her ahead by only 4.4 points Wednesday morning.
In state polling Trump also gained ground, an Emerson poll on Tuesday showed, leading in North Carolina, tying Clinton in Ohio, and cutting Clinton’s lead in Pennsylvania and Michigan to three and five points respectively.