NEW YORK: A new poll released by Fox News says Donald Trump holds a slight lead over Hillary Clinton — 45 per cent to 42pc — among registered voters.

The reason for dramatic drop in Ms Clinton’s poll numbers is her ongoing battle with Senator Bernie Sanders whose message of social inequality is resonating more than ever. Sanders is calling for major reforms in the political and financial system in the United States.

According to the report, Trump’s lead is within the poll’s 3-point margin of error.

Trump’s standing in the poll, released on Wednesday, shows an improvement for the billionaire businessman from a Fox national poll in April showing Clinton on top — 48pc to 41pc.

Still, early national polling has painted a mixed picture — a recent CNN/ORC poll showed Clinton leading Trump by 13 points — 54pc to 41pc.

As has been the case in most polls, Trump and Clinton face a significant gender and racial gap among their supporters, the CNN report said.

Trump as a double-digit lead among men, while Clinton has the edge among women by double-digits, though Trump’s advantage is slightly larger among men than Clinton’s is among women. And while Trump wins white voters — including white women — by more than 20 points, Clinton enjoys even larger margins among African-American and Hispanic voters.

A majority of voters also have negative opinions of the candidates and say that both Clinton and Trump are dishonest, though Trump fares slightly better on that measure, the CNN said.

The Fox poll finds party unity is about equal — 83pc of Democrats say they support Clinton, and 82pc of Republicans say they back Trump. Republicans, however, express more enthusiasm about the election, with 74pc saying they are extremely or very interested in the election, compared to 66pc of Democrats who say the same.

The Fox survey also polled voters on a general election between Trump and Sanders, and found Sanders leads Trump 46pc to 42pc, but that’s down from his lead in Fox’s April poll, where the Vermont senator led Trump, 52pc to 39pc.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2016