The disdain for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is “unprecedented,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said Monday.
His poll found that “nearly no voters have a positive opinion of both Clinton and Trump, while one-third do not have a favorable view of either candidate. These results are unusual.”
“It seems like a significant number of voters are backing a presidential candidate about whom they cannot say anything positive,” Murray said.
Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, does get favorable reviews from 34 percent of voters, while 26 percent see Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, favorably.
It seems like a significant number of voters are backing a presidential candidate about whom they cannot say anything positive.
Patrick Murray, Monmouth University Polling Institute
But combine the results, and the survey found that only 2 percent view both favorably, while 35 percent see both unfavorably.
That’s unprecedented in recent times.
“The number of voters in elections going back to 1984 who had a favorable opinion of both candidates was never lower than 5 percent,” said a poll analysis. The number who did not have a favorable opinion of either nominee never topped 9 percent in that period.
Those with unfavorable views of both candidates this year are divided almost evenly among Trump, Clinton and Libertarian Gary Johnson.
Overall, Clinton leads Trump, by 46 to 39 percent. Johnson gets 7 percent and Jill Stein of the Green Party gets 2 percent.
David Lightman: 202-383-6101, @lightmandavid