Hillary Clinton has overtaken Donald Trump on terrorism, according to an
ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday which cites her response to the Orlando mass shooting. The poll also shows broader support for tougher gun controls.
According to the poll:
- Americans rated the former secretary of state as showing a better temperament, 59 percent to 25 percent for Trump, in responding to the massacre in Florida.
- Americans have more confidence that Clinton could handle a terror attack as president, 53 percent to 34 percent for Trump.
- Clinton also beat Trump in having better proposals to prevent future attacks, 44 percent to 35 percent, and in doing a better job of responding overall, 46 percent to 28 percent.
- By comparison, President Barack Obama received a favorable rating from 50 percent of Americans for his response to terrorism.
- When asked about legal measures against those on the FBI's watch list of people with possible connections to terrorism, 86 percent supported restricting weapon sales to those individuals, and 72 percent supported increasing surveillance on them, even if it violates their privacy.
- Americans are more divided regarding an assault weapons ban. Just over half, 51 percent, support a ban, while 48 percent are opposed.
- Of those who support such a ban, 76 percent agree that more people should legally carry guns for self-defense.
- Most oppose Trump's proposed ban on Muslim non-citizens from entering the country, 52 percent to 43 percent.
Trump has faced criticism over his temperament before. An April survey showed that 60 percent of Americans rated him "very poor" on whether he has the right temperament to be president, compared with only 12 percent who rated him highly on the subject, according to
NBC News.
In May of 2016, when asked which candidate can best handle terror, Clinton edged out Trump by 1-5 percent in two polls, while Trump bested her 4-12 percent in two polls, according to
The Washington Post.
The ABC News/Washington Post was conducted by
Langer Research Associates by phone, both landline and cellular, from June 20-23, 2016. The questions were presented
to a random national sample of 1,001 adults, with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
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