U.S. Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton regained a
double-digit lead over Republican rival Donald Trump this week,
according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on June 24.
The June 20-24 poll showed that 46.6 percent of likely American voters supported Clinton while 33.3 percent supported Trump. Another 20.1 percent said they would support neither candidate.
Trump
had enjoyed a brief boost in support following the June 12 mass
shooting in Orlando, Florida, as he doubled down on his pledge to ban
Muslims from entering the country, cutting Clinton’s lead to nine
points.
But Trump’s rise in popularity appeared to be only
temporary, unlike his lasting surge among the Republican field last year
after the attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino, California.
Clinton’s 13.3 percentage point lead is about the same as she had before the Orlando attack.
Trump’s
slip this week came as he struggled to show that he can keep up with a
Clinton campaign apparatus that has dwarfed his in size and funding.
Campaign
finance disclosures released earlier this week showed Trump started
June with a war chest of just $1.3 million, a fraction of Clinton’s $42
million. Trump sought to ease concerns among his allies by saying that
he could tap his “unlimited” personal wealth if needed, and also by
bolstering efforts to raise money through fundraising events and online
donations.
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders said June 24 that he would
vote for Clinton in the presidential election in November, bowing to his
rival for the Democratic nomination but stopping short of endorsing
her.
Asked on MSNBC whether he would cast his ballot for Clinton,
the Vermont senator – who waged a surprisingly tough campaign against
the former secretary of state during the primaries – said, “Yes.”
“I think the issue right here is I’m going to do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump,” Sanders said, according to AFP.
But
rather than praise Clinton or offer an outright concession – something
many Democrats have been hoping to hear ahead of the party’s nominating
convention next month – Sanders instead laid into the Republican flag
bearer as unfit for the Oval Office
