Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 6 points following last week’s presidential debate, according to a new poll released Monday.
According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll, Clinton holds a 7-point advantage over Trump, 46 percent to 39 percent, in a head-to-head matchup. Clinton previously led by 4 points over the real estate mogul.
In a four-way matchup, Clinton leads with 42 percent to Trump’s 36 percent. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson earns 9 percent support, while Green Party nominee Jill Stein takes 3 percent. Ten percent of respondents were undecided.
Since debate day, Clinton has only seen her lead grow. Prior to last Monday’s debate, she was down by a single point. She also held a 3-point advantage following the debate, which a vast majority said she won.
Clinton’s expanded lead comes after a week where Trump saw his lead evaporate in many national polls following his debate performance and subsequent days of campaigning where he became embroiled in a back-and-forth with Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe winner, who he attacked after Clinton brought her up in the debate. Trump allegedly called Machado “Miss Piggy” after she gained weight following winning the pageant in 1996.
Since the debate, Machado’s story has gained resonance with voters, according to the poll. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed say they heard about the story, which cropped up in the waning moments of the debate. Fifty-five percent of female voters currently view Trump “very unfavorable” after the back-and-forth.
The online poll of 1,991 likely voters was conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
