Hillary Clinton has regained a sizable lead in national polls after clinching the Democratic nomination and a week of negative news for her Republican rival Donald Trump, who received criticism from within his own party following comments made about Judge Gonzalo Curiel.
A new NBC/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll shows Clinton leading Trump by 7 percent—49 percent to 42 percent—an increase from the three point lead Clinton held last month by the same polling organization.
The latest poll finds that Trump’s lead with males and whites dropped to single digits—9 points in each demographic—and Clinton gained 5 points among moderates, now leading 58 percent to 33 percent.
In the last week, Clinton got a bump in positive news coverage, clinching the Democratic nomination and getting the endorsement from popular liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and President Barack Obama.
Donald Trump weathered the storm of negative publicity following comments about the judge in the Trump University case who he said was “Mexican.” Leaders of the Republican party, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, condemned the remarks in the subsequent days.
Both candidates have worked to contrast each other in their responses to the recent attacks in Orlando, although the effects of the attack were not measured in this poll.
The NBC poll also asked people about potential third party inclusions, including Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
The results show Clinton still ahead, but with less of a lead than in prior polls. Clinton has 42 percent; Trump has 38 percent, Johnson has 9 percent support and Stein has 5 percent.
The level of support for third party candidates in the same poll given the week before was consistent, but with Clinton only leading by one percent over Trump, underscoring her surge in polls.
The poll was compiled by asking some respondents a four-way horse race question and other respondents a two-way horse race question.
The NBC News/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking poll had a sample size of 10,604 adults aged 18 and over with 9,355 of those polled saying they are registered to vote. The poll was conducted between June 6 and June 12.
With the political implications of the attack in Orlando, Florida, still unknown, the polling results can potentially change significantly over the next weeks, depending on how voters respond to each candidate.
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