Donald Trump Presidency Would Embarrass Half Of US Voters, Poll Finds

A new poll has confirmed what many Americans have been saying to one another and on social media for some time: Half of registered voters said they would be embarrassed to have Donald Trump as president, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Tuesday.

Trump still leads the Republican presidential field as he has done for months, but Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is just four points behind, putting him in much closer proximity to the real estate magnate than many other recent polls have shown. Over the past few months, other national polls have often found Trump to command at least a 20-point lead over the rest of the GOP pack. Cruz’s support came from a high rate of evangelical voters (33 percent) and voters who identified as “very” conservative (38 percent).

After Trump at 28 percent and Cruz at 24 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida came in third with 12 percent, followed by Dr. Ben Carson at 10 percent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie garnered 6 percent, marking an uptick in support for him, and all other candidates fell below that mark.

However, Republican voters’ support for Trump was not steadfast, the poll found. Eight percent of GOP-leaning voters said they were undecided, and a full 58 percent of those who chose a candidate said they might still change their minds.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton beat out Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 61 percent to 30 percent, leaving former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at 2 percent. Six percent of voters were undecided, and 41 percent said they might change their minds.

When asked about Trump, 82 percent of Democrats said they would be embarrassed to see the billionaire as president, and nearly six in 10 women across both parties said they would feel embarrassed. On the other hand, 44 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of non-college-educated voters said they would feel “proud” to have Trump as president.

For Clinton, 33 percent of voters said they would be embarrassed, and 33 percent said they would feel proud. While her scores were not quite as high as Trump’s embarrassment ratings, 72 percent of Republicans said they would be embarrassed to have her as president, along with 44 percent of men across both parties.

The Quinnipiac University poll surveyed 1,140 registered voters Dec. 16 -20 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent.