 "Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. (Photo: Reuters)")
Donald Trump gained on Hillary Clinton among American voters this week, cutting her lead nearly in half despite a string of women accusing him of unwanted sexual advances and the furore over his disputed claims that the election process is rigged, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.
The survey also showed that 63 per cent of Americans, including a third of Republicans, believe the New York real estate mogul has committed sexual assault in the past, though the Republican presidential candidate has denied the recent accusations.
Clinton, the Democratic former secretary of state, led Trump 44 per cent to 40 per cent, according to the October 14-20 poll, a 4-point lead, with the November 8 election fast approaching. That compared with 44 percent for Clinton and 37 per cent for Trump in the October 7-13 poll released last week.
Clinton's lead also shrank in a separate four-way poll that included alternative party candidates: 43 per cent supported her, while 39 per cent supported Trump, 6 per cent supported Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and 2 per cent supported Jill Stein of the Green Party.
Support for Clinton had been mostly rising in the seven-day tracking poll since the last week of August, when the candidates were about tied.
The latest reading showed that Trump's deficit narrowed to what it was before a video surfaced on October 7 featuring him bragging about groping and kissing women. Several women have since accused him of making unwanted sexual advances in separate incidents from the early 1980s to 2007. Trump has denied the allegations, calling them "totally and absolutely false."
