US presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has chipped away at presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s national lead after a fierce clash over last week’s deadly mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, according to a new poll.
The survey, released on Friday, showed that Clinton was still ahead with 45.5 percent support against Trump’s 34.8 percent, while 19.7 percent picked neither candidate.
Before the Sunday attack, that saw an alleged Daesh sympathizer killing 49 people in Orlando’s Pulse Club, Clinton was in lead with a 14.3-point margin.
After the attack, Clinton gave a speech at a company that manufactures military helmets and other safety equipment in Cleveland, calling for unity and outreach to Muslims in the wake of the attacks while urging stricter gun-control measures.
To help confront domestic extremism, Clinton said Americans needed assistance from Muslim communities inside the US.
The former first lady then took a swipe at Trump’s proposed ban on all Muslims entering the US, saying, “Inflammatory, anti-Muslim rhetoric and threatening to ban the families and friends of Muslim Americans… from entering our country hurts the vast majority of Muslims, who love freedom and hate terror.”
Trump, on the other hand, took the opportunity to spew more explosive and forceful political rhetoric against Muslims.
Equating all Muslims seeking entry to America to potential terrorists, the real estate mogul said, “We cannot continue to allow thousands upon thousands of people to pour into our country many of whom have the same thought process as this savage killer.”
According to the new poll, about 45 percent of Americans backed Trump's idea to halt Muslim immigration, marking a notable increase from 41.9 percent in early June.
Tighter gun control was favored by some 70 percent of Americans, who said they wanted the least moderate regulations and restrictions on arms use.