Donald Trump has surged to a 5-point national lead over Hillary Clinton, according to a new survey by the right-leaning polling firm Rasmussen Reports.
The Republican presidential nominee edges Clinton 44 percent to 39 percent among likely voters nationwide in a four-way race against Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson (8 percent) and Green Party candidate Jill Stein (2 percent).
Trump carried a 2-point lead over his Democratic opponent in the same survey released last week. The billionaire still trails Clinton by 2.1 percentage points, however, in the RealClearPolitics national polling average.
Much of Trump’s edge in the Rasmussen survey stems from 18-point lead among independent voters. He draws 45 percent support among respondents not affiliated with either major political party, 27 percent of whom support Clinton. Trump also carries a double-digit advantage among men, while the former secretary of state is polling 4 percentage points ahead of him among women.
The Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Sept. 20-21. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 3 percentage points.
