Donald Trump Lags Behind Hillary Clinton in New Polls

Donald Trump is lagging Hillary Clinton by large margins in swing states and nationwide, according to a slate of new polls, suggesting that the Democratic National Convention and a basket of recent controversies and missteps have hurt the Republican nominee.

In Pennsylvania, a rust belt state that Trump believed was especially friendly territory, a poll by Franklin & Marshall College showed Trump behind Clinton by 11 points. Another by WBUR in New Hampshire, a swing state where Trump won overwhelmingly in the Republican primary, shows Trump losing by 17 points in a head-to-head matchup. Yet another poll in Michigan, a state Trump had vowed to contest, put Clinton up 6 points in a head-to-head matchup.

Trump has repeatedly put himself in the crossfire in recent days, criticizing the family of a soldier killed in Iraq and appearing not to understand Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. He also refused to endorse two leading Republicans, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. John McCain.

The state polls were conducted shortly after the DNC and may not have shown the full damage of Trump’s feud with the Gold Star family.

In national polls, Trump is showing weakness, too. A CNN/ORC poll released Monday showed the Clinton-Sen. Tim Kaine ticket beating Trump and Gov. Mike Pence by nine points nationwide, 52 to 43. While Trump usually leads with men, the polls in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire show Clinton nearly even with her rival in that demographic. The CNN poll showed Trump leading Clinton among men nationally, 51 to 44.

Still, campaigning in Florida, Trump reassured his supporters, and discounted rumors of infighting in his campaign. “The campaign is doing very well. It’s never been so well united,” he said. “We are doing incredible well.”