Donald Trump has a 19-point lead over Hillary Clinton among military and veteran voters, according to polling released Wednesday.
Mr. Trump had a 19-point, 55 percent to 36 percent lead over Mrs. Clinton in the NBC News/SurveyMonkey online poll.
Fifty-three percent of military and veteran voters said they feel comfortable in Mr. Trump’s ability to be an effective commander-in-chief of the country’s military, compared to 35 percent for Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Trump also had a 53 percent to 28 percent edge among military and veteran voters when it came to veterans issues.
Mrs. Clinton had a slight edge among military and veteran voters on who they trust more to make the right decisions on nuclear weapons. A new ad released this week by a pro-Clinton group strongly implied that Mr. Trump could trigger a nuclear war if elected president.
In 2012, GOP nominee Mitt Romney won the veterans vote by 20 points, according to an American National Election Studies post-election survey.
In 2008, Republican nominee John McCain won veterans by 10 points and in 2004, former President George W. Bush carried veterans by 16 points, according to exit polling.
Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are participating in a forum hosted by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) on Wednesday in New York.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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