WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is continuing his steady comeback in national polls and has slashed Hillary Clinton’s lead in half, according to the latest survey.
Clinton is up by five percentage points — 48 percent to Trump’s 43 percent among likely voters nationwide. That’s down from a 10-point advantage Clinton held less than three weeks ago, 51 to 41 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
Clinton and Trump are in a virtual dead heat when third-party candidates are included.
Under that scenario, Clinton is at 41 percent, Trump at 39 percent, Libertarian Gary Johnson at 13 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 4 percent.
The telephone survey was taken Sept. 8 to 13 — two days after Clinton’s Ground Zero health scare was captured on video — of 960 likely voters.
It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
The majority of voters surveyed have a negative view of both candidates (57 percent for Clinton and 59 percent for Trump) and most of their backers say their primary motivation is to prevent the opposing candidate from winning.
“Priority one for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as the election looms: lure the cynical, disaffected, downright disgusted electorate into their camp. That’s no mean feat as clouds of distrust loom over both campaigns,” said pollster Tim Malloy.
Just 32 percent of Clinton voters say they are mainly voting for her, while 54 percent say they are voting against Trump.
Fewer Trump supporters — 23 percent — say their vote is an endorsement for the GOP nominee, but 66 percent they are voting to reject Clinton.
Clinton’s post-convention bounce has eroded in September as she faces continued scrutiny about her use of private email and her health, while Trump has tried to rein in his divisive rhetoric under new campaign leadership.