Clinton holds 7-point lead over Trump in new poll

US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump has seen a decrease in a new national poll.

The Monmouth University poll, conducted last Thursday through Sunday but released on Monday, shows the former secretary of state has 46 percent of the votes as compared to the New York billionaire having a 39 percent support.

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is at 7 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein only garners 2 percent.

In the new poll, 6 percent of likely voters have not decided yet or say they prefer another candidate.

Clinton is popular among 85 percent of self-identified Democratic voters, while Trump has the support of 78 percent Republicans, the survey showed.  And 37 percent independent voters support the former First Lady and 32 percent back her rival.

Clinton has led Trump throughout most of the 2016 presidential campaign. But her lead in recent polls represents a decline in her support.

In the Morning Consult poll released early on Sunday, Clinton leads the businessman by only 3 points, 43 percent to 40 percent throughout the country.

The candidates were both viewed unfavorably by the voters as is the case in the polls, with Trump getting 58 percent and Clinton 57 percent in the survey taken from August 24 to August 26.

The head-to-head match-up has not been this close since late July, when Clinton led Trump 43 percent to 40 percent.

Clinton’s declining support has, in large part, been attributed to a series of fierce attacks from the Trump campaign over the past few days.

Clinton is accused by Trump of doing political favors for some of the people who donated money to her family’s foundation when she was in office from 2009 to 2013.

Her use of a private server to exchange classified emails also made the headlines again last week, after a judge ordered her to provide written testimony under oath about why she used the server.