Trump Tops Clinton in Economic Trust

They remain in the lead for their respective party’s presidential nomination, but how do voters rate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire businessman Donald Trump head-to-head on specific issues facing the nation? Trump holds a double-digit lead in voter trust when it comes to the economy and immigration and is slightly ahead in the area of national security. Clinton holds small leads on social policy and the environment.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that Likely U.S. Voters by a 50% to 38% margin trust Trump more than Clinton to handle the economy and job creation. Twelve percent (12%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The economy has consistently been the top issue on voters’ minds in regular tracking for years.

"The Donald" holds an even wider lead over Clinton on immigration - an issue he has been highly vocal on - 52% to 38%. Ten percent (10%) aren’t sure which candidate they trust more on the issue.

Voters also give Trump a much narrower 46% to 42% edge on national security. Thirteen percent (13%) are undecided.

Clinton holds modest advantages on social issues such as gay marriage, abortion and church-state topics (44% to 40%) and the environment (45% to 42%). Both are areas where Democratic candidates usually have much wider leads over Republicans.

Voters for years have viewed Republicans as the party to trust when it comes to economic growth and national security. Democrats have typically led on social issues and the environment. Trust on national security has shifted between the two parties over the years, but Republicans have generally held the edge in that area, too.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on September 2-3, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of Likely Republican Voters now think Trump is likely to be the Republican presidential nominee next year, a finding that has been climbing over the past several weeks. Belief that Clinton is likely to be next year's Democratic presidential nominee has dropped noticeably over the past month, but the race is still hers to lose at this point.

Trump earns trust from 66% to 78% of Republicans on the issues and performs best on immigration among members of his own party. In fact, one-in-four Democrats (26%) trust Trump more than Clinton on immigration.

For Clinton, 68% to 75% of Democrats trust her more on each issue, with the environment being the issue on which she is trusted most.

Voters not affiliated with either party give Trump significant leads on the economy and immigration. They also give Trump a double-digit lead in the area of national security. Clinton and Trump are virtually tied among unaffiliated voters on social issues and the environment.

Voters under 40 trust Clinton more than Trump on every issue by significant margins, while their elders give the edge to Trump.

Trump has seen a surge of support in part because of his tough talk on illegal immigration and has pulled the GOP field in his direction. Ninety-three percent (93%) of Republicans consider illegal immigration a serious problem in America today, with 74% who say it is Very Serious. Sixty-six percent (76%) of Likely Republican Voters - and 53% of all voters - agree with Trump that illegal immigration increases the level of serious crime.

Most voters expect biased media coverage of the 2016 presidential race, and the media response to immigration comments by Clinton and Trump is a good case in point.

Most voters like Clinton’s ambitious plan to combat global warming but admit the issue isn’t of high importance to their voting decisions.

Growing national security questions about Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of State are drowning out much of her message as a presidential candidate and causing many of her fellow Democrats to worry about the future of her campaign. But voters are evenly divided as to whether Clinton should suspend her campaign until all legal questions about her actions are resolved.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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