On Thursday, all three network morning shows skipped a new poll showing that Hillary Clinton’s favorablity rating had fallen to 39 percent. The newly-released Associated Press-GFK poll found: “Just 39 percent of all Americans have a favorable view of Clinton, compared to nearly half [49 percent] who say they have a negative opinion of her.”
An AP article detailing the findings began: “Hillary Rodham Clinton’s standing is falling among Democrats, and voters view her as less decisive and inspiring than when she launched her presidential campaign just three months ago....The survey offers a series of warning signs for the leading Democratic candidate. Most troubling, perhaps, for her prospects are questions about her compassion for average Americans...”
Despite such negative ratings for the Democratic frontrunner, NBC’s Today, ABC’s Good Morning America, and CBS This Morning all ignored the story.
However, both ABC and CBS did find time to tout Clinton’s fundraising numbers. On GMA, fill-in news anchor Paula Faris gushed: “Hillary Clinton's campaign raised more than $47 million between April and June. That is more than the top six Republican candidates combined.”
On This Morning, co-host Charlie Rose declared: “Hillary Clinton's campaign says she raised $46.7 million in April, May, and June. More than half of the money comes from women.”
Today avoided the state of Clinton’s campaign altogether, instead devoting two full segments to Donald Trump’s wealth.
By contrast, MSNBC’s Morning Joe covered the bad poll numbers for Clinton at 7:15 a.m. ET.
Thursday’s AP write-up explained just how deep the trouble was for Clinton:
The drop in Clinton’s numbers extends into the Democratic Party. Seven in 10 Democrats gave Clinton positive marks, an 11-point drop from the April survey. Nearly a quarter of Democrats now say they see Clinton in an unfavorable light.
“I used to like her, but I don’t trust her,” said Donald Walters of Louisville, Kentucky. “Ever since she’s announced her candidacy for the presidency I just haven’t liked the way she’s handled things. She doesn’t answer questions directly”....Only 4 in 10 voters say they view Clinton as “compassionate.” Just 3 in 10 said the word “honest” described her either very or somewhat well.
