--- title: Donald Trump Poll: Republican Gains on Hillary Clinton in 2016 Race description: Donald Trump is starting to close the gap in a potential general election matchup with Hillary Clinton canonical: https://time.com/4003525/donald-trump-poll-hillary-clinton-2016/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-19T19:37:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:47.872Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Gains on Hillary Clinton in 2016 Poll og:description: He trails Clinton by just six points og:url: https://time.com/4003525/donald-trump-poll-hillary-clinton-2016/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta23ff45de84aba71/6988601ecf40a863a4c3f4eb/trump-hillary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: trump-hillary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Gains on Hillary Clinton in 2016 Poll twitter:description: He trails Clinton by just six points twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta23ff45de84aba71/6988601ecf40a863a4c3f4eb/trump-hillary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Gains on Hillary Clinton in 2016 Poll > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2015-07-23. Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Aug 19, 2015 7:37 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, in New York and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton in Las Vegas. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, in New York and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton in Las Vegas. Seth Wenig, John Locher—AP  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Aug 19, 2015 7:37 PM UTC Donald Trump is [starting to close the gap](http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/politics/2016-poll-hillary-clinton-joe-biden-bernie-sanders/index.html) in a potential general election matchup with Hillary Clinton, according to a new poll, even amid [growing concerns about his electability](http://time.com/4001608/donald-trump-poll-republican-2016/). The CNN/ORC survey released Wednesday found Trump, who is leading national and early-state polls in the Republican presidential primary race, trailing Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, by just six percentage points. Clinton was ahead of Trump in a hypothetical general election by 16 points in July. It’s just the latest indicator that Trump continues to defy the usual laws of political gravity, successfully shaking off one series of controversial remarks after enough. And it comes as the enduring controversy over Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State continues to chip away at how voters view her. Clinton also leads Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker by six points. She’s ahead of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by nine points. The poll of 897 registered voters, conducted Aug. 13-16, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. ## Transcript Rosie O'Donnell's disgusting, I mean both inside and out. You take a look at her, she's a slob. She talks like a truck driver. So he could have been born in Kenya and gone over to the United States. And everybody wants to be a US citizen. And his grandparents put an ad in saying he was born in the United States. He didn't kill Bin Laden. He gets so much credit for that. Ok excuse me. He had the guts to make that decision. And the genius. Excuse me. Guts. First of all Vince, your grapefruits are no match for my Trump Towers. They're bringing drugs They're bringing crime, they're rapist, and some I assume are good people, and I love the Mexican people. I've had thousands of Mexicans working for me. I sell apartments for millions of dollars to people from Mexico. They love me, they love me. [ CROSSTALK ]. He's a war hero cuz he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, okay? I hate to tell you this. And I see your Senator. What a stiff? What a Stiff? Lindsay Graham. I'm not using the lobbyists, I'm not using donors. I don't care. I'm really rich. 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