Following Donald Trump’s leaked hot mic footage that featured loads of predatory language towards women, Republicans anticipated voter fallout. That’s why House Speaker Paul Ryan (who’s always felt uncomfortable with Trump) is pulling all public support, and RNC Chair Reince Priebus (who’s been enormously supportive of Trump until now) has told elected officials to take care of themselves. The establishment stance appears to be self-preservation from the collateral damage of Hurricane Trump.
Meanwhile, a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that not only has Trump suffered a loss of voter support in the past several days, but Hillary Clinton has benefited from the Trump tapes. The results were gathered before the debate (so they’re obviously going to shift soon), but Trump drags behind Clinton in a four-way matchup. That is to say, when Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are in the mix, Clinton pulls in 46% support while Trump takes 35%. But when the questions involve a head-to-head matchup for Clinton and Trump, the results dramatically shift to give Clinton 52% while Trump trails with 38%.
More tidbits from the poll look promising to Democrats, as 49% of respondents want the party to control Congress, as opposed to 42% who favor Republicans. On the subject of the Trump tapes, 41% of respondents feel that Trump’s lewd comments are “completely unacceptable” while 31% feel they’re merely “inappropriate.” Yet 38% feel Trump’s comments disqualify him from the presidency while 42% say it should not be a deciding factor.
Naturally, most polls will be viewed skeptically by those who aren’t favored, but Fox News acknowledged the most prominent results on Monday morning.
