The Slatest

2 in 3 Americans Say Trump Is Unqualified to Be President

A bagpipe player wears traditional dress next to Donald Trump as he arrives to his Trump Turnberry Resort on Thursday in Ayr, Scotland.

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Support for Donald Trump is plunging quickly as almost two-thirds of Americans are anxious about the real estate mogul becoming president. This is good news for Hillary Clinton, who has managed to open up a 12-point lead over the presumptive Republican nominee, according to the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll. Clinton has the support of 51 percent of registered voters nationwide, compared with 39 percent for Trump. That marks a sharp turnaround from last month’s poll that found the race nearly evenly matched, and even had Trump ahead by two points, 46 percent to 44 percent.

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll also has Clinton leading, albeit by a smaller five-point margin, 46 percent versus 41 percent.

There seem to be a lot of nervous people in the American electorate who are worried about a Trump presidency, according to the Post/ABC poll. A new high, 64 percent, say Trump is unqualified to be president, and 70 percent say they are anxious about the prospect of a Trump presidency. The poll also found that 66 percent of people believe Trump is unfairly biased against women, minorities, and Muslims.

This is not to say it’s all roses for Clinton as 50 percent of Americans say they’re anxious about the idea of the former secretary of state becoming president. And the dislike for Clinton is so strong that even some who disapprove of Trump’s comments say they will vote for him. In fact, 11 percent of those who say the presumptive Republican nominee is unqualified to be president will vote for him anyway.

What about a third-party candidate? The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that when registered voters are given the choice, Clinton’s support drops to 39 percent while Trump gets 38 percent, Libertarian Gary Johnson, 10 percent, and the Green Party’s Jill Stein, 6 percent. Still, according to the Washington Post/ABC poll 78 percent of respondents say they are not looking for a third-party candidate despite the broad dissatisfaction. And the vast majority of those who say they would consider a third-party candidate can’t name one.

Read more Slate coverage of the presidential election.