45% say Clinton email scandal worse than Watergate – poll

According to a Politico/Morning Consult poll, 45 percent say the Clinton email scandal is worse than Watergate; eight out of 10 Republicans said it was worse than Watergate.

The Watergate scandal, which was over a break in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Of those polled, 61 percent worried the Clinton email scandal could affect her administration if elected, compared to 47 percent who think the same could happen to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and accusations of wrongdoing regarding Trump University.

Trump gained three points, moving up to 39 percent against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who is holding steady at 42 percent, in a race which has been tightening since news broke of the FBI’s further review of the former secretary of state’s emails.

Surprisingly, the number remained steady after FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Capitol Hill on Friday, alerting committee chairmen of plans for a renewed investigation of emails related to Hillary Clinton.

The emails were found during an unrelated federal investigation into allegations that former Congressman Anthony Weiner sent sexually-explicit messages to an underage girl. The emails belong to his wife, Huma Abedin, who is a Clinton aide.

Of those polled, 97 percent said they had heard about Clinton using a private email server, and 89 percent said they had heard about the new FBI review of emails that was announced on Friday.

When asked which was worse – Trump’s comments regarding women and minorities, or Clinton’s alleged email misuse – 45 percent answered that Clinton’s email misuse was worse, while 48 percent said Trump’s comments were.

Politico/Morning Consult conducted a survey on Saturday and Sunday with 1,772 likely voters, with a margin of error of two percent.

Despite the Morning Consult poll finding Trump showing a three-point gain to 39 percent and Clinton remaining at 42 percent, RealClearPolitics found Clinton had a 2.4 point national lead over her Republican rival, 45.4 percent to 42 percent.
FiveThirtyEight’s polls-plus forecast, however, still has the Democratic nominee predicted to have a 78.1 percent chance of winning the presidency with Trump at 21.9 percent.