A new poll shows that presumptive US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s lead over her Republican rival, Donald Trump, has fallen to three points across the country.
According to the latest NBC News/Survey Monkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll released on Tuesday, Clinton is ahead of Trump with 47 percent of votes to 44, as compared to the same poll last week when the former secretary of state enjoyed a five-point edge over her rival with 48 to 43 percent.
The poll seems to be highly impacted by Clinton’s email scandal as 82 percent of the US voters think her use of private email server while as the secretary of state was “not appropriate,” versus 15 percent who take an opposite stance.
Some 56 percent of pollsters expressed disagreement with FBI Director James Comey, who recommended last week that Clinton not face criminal charges over the email case, while 41 percent said he made the right call.
The poll was conducted among 7,869 US adults who registered to vote via online interviews from July 4 to 10 with a 1.4-percentage point margin of error.
Earlier this month, Gallup released a poll indicating that Trump and Clinton were currently among the worst-rated presidential candidates of the last 70 years.
When Americans were asked what comes to mind when they think of Clinton, 27 percent said they did not trust her, 13 percent said they did not like her and eight percent said she is a “criminal” or “corrupt.”
The latest responses reflect that many Americans continue to see Clinton as dishonest and untrustworthy and dislike her in general.
Trump also evoked a variety of negative reactions about his personality. Sixteen percent said they disliked him, while 12 percent described him as an "idiot" or a "joke" and 10 percent as a "racist" or a "bigot."
Eight percent viewed him as "reckless" or "dangerous" and seven percent as someone who speaks without thinking.