ST. LOUIS | Support for Donald Trump dipped slightly after a videotape surfaced in which he used vulgar language to boast about his womanizing, but most Republican voters said GOP leaders should stand by the party’s presidential nominee, according to a new poll released Sunday.
Mr. Trump’s campaign has been reeling and about 40 GOP leaders either have announced opposition or have withdrawn endorsements for the New York businessman and called on him to drop out of the race in reaction to the videotape, in which Mr. Trump was caught on a hot mic bantering with “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush about sexual exploits.
However, the Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 74 percent of Republican voters said GOP leaders should stick by Mr. Trump — the first national survey since the videotape from 2005 was made public Friday.
About 41 percent told the pollsters that they would be more likely to support a candidate who continued to back Mr. Trump.
Among all voters, 45 percent said Mr. Trump should stay in the race and 39 percent said he should drop out, according to the poll.
More than a third — 35 percent — of independent voters said Mr. Trump should quit and 12 percent of Republicans said the same.
Mr. Trump has said that he would never withdrawal form the race.
Overall, Mr. Trump’s support slipped about 1 percent and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton picked up the same amount for a 4-percentage point advantage.
Mr. Trump would get 38 percent of the vote if the election were held today, while Mrs. Clinton would get 42 percent, according to the poll.
The same poll conducted days earlier showed Mrs. Clinton with a 3-percentage point lead over Mr. Trump, 41 percent to 39 percent.
The audio from the video tape caught Mr. Trump and Mr. Bush talking abroad a bus on the way to the Hollywood set of a sop opera, where Mr. Trump was making a cameo appearance. Mr. Trump is heard boasting that he can “kiss” women and “grab them by the p——” because he was a celebrity.
He also regaled Mr. Bush with a story about his failed attempt to seduce a married woman.
About half the voters in the poll — 48 percent — said most men talk in private the way Mr. Trump did, compared to 36 percent who said they did not. Republicans were more than twice as likely as Democrats to say most men talk like Mr. Trump did in private, 67 percent to 31 percent. Independent voters were split, with 46 percent saying most men talked that way in private, according to the poll.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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