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Clinton leads Trump, 2 new polls show

Posted at 2:55 PM, Oct 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-16 14:55:45-04

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump nationally among likely voters — but two new polls diverge on the size of her lead.

Clinton is 11 percentage points ahead of Trump, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll out Sunday.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll, meanwhile, pegs her lead at 4 points.

In the NBC poll, Clinton has 48% support compared to 37% for Trump, 7% for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 2% for the Green Party’s Jill Stein. In a two-way race, Clinton leads 51% to 41%.

The NBC poll shows Trump could have paid a steep price for the “Access Hollywood” tape that showed him bragging about sexually assaulting women, which was followed by nine women claiming specific instances of Trump groping or kissing them without consent.

In a head-to-head with Trump, Clinton leads by 20 points among women — while Trump is ahead by just 3 points with men.

However, just 32% say the video disqualified Trump from being president and that he should drop out of the race, while 53% disagree.

Clinton’s debate performances have helped, too, the NBC poll found. Thirty-one percent of those surveyed said the two debates have made them more likely to vote for Clinton, while 14% say the debates make them more likely to back Trump.

The NBC poll shows voters’ distaste with Trump doesn’t extend to all Republicans: 46% of those polled say they want a Democrats to control Congress, while 44% say they favor a Republican-led Congress.

In the ABC poll, meanwhile, Clinton has 47% support to Trump’s 43%, with Johnson at 5% and Stein at 2%.

That’s little change from an ABC/Washington Post poll conducted just before the first debate and before the controversy over Trump’s taped remarks about sexually assaulting women, which had Clinton’s lead at 46% to 44%.

However, the poll did find some shifting dynamics in the race. Enthusiasm among Trump supporters is down to 79%, while Clinton’s is up to 83% — erasing the 10-point advantage in that measure that Trump had before the first debate.

And two-thirds of registered voters say the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape doesn’t affect their vote. Thirty-eight percent say they think Trump’s apology for those comments is sincere, and 68% say Trump probably has made unwanted advances toward women.

The NBC/WSJ poll surveyed 905 likely voters between October 10-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

The Washington Post-ABC poll surveyed 740 likely voters between October 10-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.