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As political debate heats up between presumptive presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the Democratic candidate has widened her lead over her Republican rival, especially among white men, according to a new NBC/Survey Monkey poll released Tuesday.
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Clinton is now leading Trump by 7 points at 49 to 42 percent, increasing her margin of support over the Republican billionaire compared to previous NBC tracking in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, a majority of respondents increasingly believe that Clinton is set to win the country’s top office in November. NBC’s poll found that 54 percent think the former secretary of state will be the next U.S. president, while 40 percent think it will be Trump, widening the opinion gap from just 5 percent in last week’s poll.
Clinton has made notable gains over Trump among men, white voters, and so-called moderates.
“She narrowed Trump's margin among men and white voters from double digits in last week's poll to single digits this week,” NBC reported.
Among men, Clinton now leads Trump 51 to 42 percent. She also leads him among moderates by 58 to 33 percent. Trump is still favored among white voters, but Clinton chipped away at his lead by by 4 points, putting him ahead by 50 to 41 percent in the demographic.
The new data comes as Democratic voters in Washington, D.C., head to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots in the final primary ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next month. Clinton has already secured an insurmountable lead of Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, but she will have to rely on the support of controversial superdelegates to cross the delegate threshold needed for the nomination.
And while the week-long poll conducted from June 6 to 12 saw a dip in support for Trump, results could continue to shift in the coming weeks in the aftermath of the massacre at an Orlando gay night club that killed 49 people—the largest mass killing in recent U.S. history.
Trump has seized the shooting as a chance to hammer his line on the threat of terrorism and banning Muslim immigration to the United States. Orlando shooter Omar Mateen, a U.S. citizen, reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in a 911 call during the massacre.
Clinton, on the other hand, drew attention to the problem of gun violence and called for a ban on assault weapons.
The former secretary of state made history last week as she locked in her position as the first woman nominee for a major U.S. political party.
Her upward swing continued with high-profile endorsements from President Barack Obama and progressive Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
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