The portion of U.S. voters who think Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy has plummeted over the last month and a half, and may still be falling in the wake of last week’s news that the FBI is reopening its investigation into her private emails.
An ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll released Wednesday said that only 38 percent of likely voters sees Clinton as honest and trustworthy, down from 45 percent. The latest data run through Oct. 31, just two days after the FBI made its surprise announcement, but the drop reflects a change since Sept. 8.
In early August, 48 percent of likely voters thought Clinton was honest and trustworthy, and she has dropped 10 percent since then.
Trump saw a slight increase in his figures, from 45 percent to 46 percent, which gives him an 8-point edge when it comes to who voters see as more honest.
The poll said 14 percent fewer independents and 13 percent fewer moderates see Clinton as honest and trustworthy, two groups who could be swayed to support for her since they are not bound to a particular party. But Clinton is even having trouble with Democrats, where she has lost 10 points.
Six in 10 were unhappy how she has responded to questions about her email habits when she was secretary of state. Though a 55 percent majority believe she will win the election, that’s a 5 point drop from the 60 percent who believed she would just before FBI director James Comey released an open letter stating the agency was reopening its investigation into Clinton-related emails.
Voters appear incredibly divided over the two major party candidates as they are locked in a 46-46 percent dead heat race among likely voters. The same poll from Tuesday put Trump ahead by 1 point.
The telephone-based poll of 1,182 likely voters was conducted Oct. 28-31 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 points.
