WASHINGTON — Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has a narrow nationwide lead against her Republican rival, Donald Trump, in a four-way match-up that includes third-party candidates, according to a new poll released Thursday.
The Pew Research Center survey finds that if the election were held today, 41% of those surveyed would support Clinton, 37% would support Trump, 10% would back Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and 4% would back Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Additionally, women surveyed back Clinton over Trump 49% to 30%, respectively, while men support Trump 45% to 33%.
However, out of those surveyed, only 27% believe Trump would make a “good or great president,” while 55% believe he would be either “poor or terrible” — 43% specifically said he would be a “terrible” president. Only 15% said that Trump would be an “average” president.
As for Clinton, 31% believe that she would make a “good or great” president, while 22% believe she would be average and 45% believe she would be a poor (12%) or terrible (33%) president.
Trump and Clinton supporters differ on the major issues they believe are important for the country. Trump supporters believe immigration (66%) and terrorism (65%) are “very big” problems, while Clinton supporters believe the gap between the rich and the poor (70%) and the environment (43%) are major issues facing the country.
However, Trump supporters trust Clinton more than Clinton supporters do — on one thing.
When asked if they expected Clinton to continue President Barack Obama’s policies if elected, 63% of Clinton supporters said yes. Among Trump supporters, the number was 80%.
And the candidates’ supporters are split on what this means for the country, with most of Clinton’s supporters thinking it’s a good thing — 59% — and 78% of Trump’s supporters saying it would be bad.
Additionally, those surveyed disagree with Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Nearly two-thirds of voters (63%) say that Muslims should not be subjected to scrutiny for their religion and 30% believe they should be.
The survey was conducted August 9 to 16 among 2,010 adults, including 1,567 registered voters, with the margin of sampling error being 2.8 percentage points with registered voters.
