Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is holding his own against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a
new Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll despite a very rocky two weeks.
She leads him by 5 percentage points but they are essentially tied when third-party candidates are included, the survey reported. The poll of 1,000 registered voters showed Clinton leading 46 percent to 41 percent in a head-to-head matchup.
Clinton's numbers held steady over the past month while Trump’s standing dropped by two points since May. The survey was conducted June 19-23, a period of tumult within his campaign.
Clinton's advantage largely vanished when voters also get a choice of third-party candidates.
Clinton’s lead fell to one point, at 39 percent to Trump’s 38 percent, when Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are part of the mix.
The poll comes after what many observers have said are some of the roughest few weeks in modern campaigning history for the Republicans.
Trump fired his campaign manager and was blasted for weak fundraising numbers and lack of organization. He's also been the target of bipartisan ire for his focus on a federal judge’s ethnicity and his reaction to the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla.
“Donald Trump has had the worst month one can imagine, but Clinton’s negatives are so high the net impact on the ballot is almost invisible,” Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Fred Yang, told the Journal.