An overwhelming majority of Republican voters want their party’s leaders to get behind Donald J. Trump and they want them to do it right now,
according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
But he still faces daunting numbers in a head-to-head match-up with either former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Sen. Bernie Sanders.
If the election were held now, 47 percent of registered voters would support Clinton, compared to just 41 percent for Mr. Trump. Clinton’s head-to-head advantage has narrowed somewhat since Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee.Last month she was much further head, leading him by 10 points in a CBS News poll. Sanders, meanwhile, also leads Trump, 51 percent to 38 percent.
But perhaps most importantly for Republican leaders now is the revelation that self-identified GOP voters overwhelmingly see Trump now as their nominee. They expect party officials to do the same.
Eight in 10 Republican voters said their leaders should support Trump even if they disagree with him on important issues. And unfavorable views toward Trump among Republican voters have plummeted 15 percentage points since last month; 21 percent now express an unfavorable view of him, down from 36 percent in April.
One reason voters want the party as a whole to unite behind Trump is to keep Clinton from winning.
"The reason I would support him is because the alternative is less favorable, in my opinion," said Delores Stockett of Osceola, Ark., who participated in the poll. "And I think Republican leaders should support him for the same reason I am supporting him. The alternative is not palatable to those of us who hold conservative views."
House Speaker Paul Ryan has indicated he is open to supporting Trump, but so far has not made the leap. Others prominent in the party have said they will either vote for Clinton, not vote at all, or even vote for a third-party option. The GOP's 2012 nominee Mitt Romney recently gave up an effort to draft a third-party candidate.
A recent
Fox News poll and
Rasmussen report found Trump overtaking Clinton in a hypothetical matchup. The Times/CBS poll still finds Clinton leading Trump 47 percent to 41 percent, but Trump is closing the gap over previous months. In April, Clinton led Trump by 10 points.
Trump also trails Clinton's Democratic opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the poll, but is closing that gap as well. Sanders leads that matchup 51 percent-38 percent, but that 13-point deficit is up from 17 points in April,
CBS News reports.
The poll talked to registered voters nationwide May 13-17. The margin of error was plus-or-minus three percentage points.
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