AP Poll: Negative view of Trump nears 70 percent

An Associated Press-GfK Poll released Thursday finds Donald Trump’s “unfavorable” numbers are nearing 70 percent. The AP reports:

Seven in 10 people, including close to half of Republican voters, have an unfavorable view of Trump, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. It’s an opinion shared by majorities of men and women; young and old; conservatives, moderates and liberals; and whites, Hispanics and blacks — a devastatingly broad indictment of the billionaire businessman.

Even in the South, a region where Trump has won GOP primaries decisively, close to 70 percent view him unfavorably. And among whites without a college education, one of Trump’s most loyal voting blocs, 55 percent have a negative opinion.

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It’s worth noting that none of the top candidates are above water in this poll. Ted Cruz is at 26-59 and Hillary Clinton is at 40-55. Still, Trump has the highest negatives and those numbers seem to have shifted some time in the last month:

Trump AP poll

As you can see, Trump’s unfavorable numbers have been hovering in the high 50s since last July. Again, that’s roughly where Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton are now. But the current poll shows a 13 point jump in the “very unfavorable” numbers as well as a 6 point drop in the total favorable numbers. Not surprisingly, the number of people who say they would not vote for Trump also jumped upward in this poll:

Trump vote

What’s not clear is why Trump’s unfavorable numbers are peaking at this moment. Yes, he had a bad week in the media but when hasn’t he had a bad week in the media? It seemed for months that none of his comments or Twitter attacks could damage him, but the poll suggests something has changed recently. Was it the attack on Ted Cruz’s wife that was a bridge too far? Was it his comments on abortion last week? Without knowing what it is that did the damage how can he try to recover?

Respondents to the AP poll even rated Ted Cruz more honest than Trump. Asked if the word “honest” described each candidate, 56 percent said it did not at all describe Trump compared to 36 percent who said the same for Cruz. Trump has taken to calling Cruz “Lyin’ Ted” in public appearances for the past several weeks.

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The good news for Trump is that he appears to be crushing both of his rivals in New York, with a Monmouth poll this week showing him breaking 50 percent. A convincing win in his home state could help rally his supporters and maybe give him a chance to turn some of these unfavorable numbers around before the convention.

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