http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/first-read-trump-s-weaknesses-overshadow-clinton-s-n580816MAY 26 2016, 8:51 AM ET
First Read: Trump's Weaknesses Overshadow Clinton'sby CHUCK TODD, MARK MURRAY and CARRIE DANN
Trump's weaknesses overshadow Clinton's
Yesterday's stinging State Department inspector general report on Hillary Clinton's email practices should have produced one of the worst 24 hours for Clinton's campaign. Instead, it's been a political flesh wound -- blood, but nothing more. Why? Because almost all of Hillary Clinton's weaknesses are overshadowed by Trump's. Consider:
Clinton gets dinged -- rightly -- over a lack of transparency for her email practices, except that Trump is a presumptive presidential nominee refusing to release his taxes because he's under audit by IRS (even though Richard Nixon released his taxes while under audit).
The Clinton campaign has engaged in spin and some misinformation about the email story, except that Trump is someone who said he gave $1 million of his own money to a veterans' charity back in January -- but didn't make the contribution until the Washington Post discovered he hadn't cut the check yet.
Democrats are divided during the still-ongoing Clinton-vs.-Sanders race, except that Trump has criticized his party's most prominent Latina politician (New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez), as other GOP governors have taken Martinez's side.
Just 19% of all registered voters gave Hillary Clinton good marks for being honest and straightforward in our April 2016 NBC/WSJ poll, except that just 12% gave Trump good marks for having the right temperament to be president.
Clinton is the most unpopular likely presidential nominee in the history of our NBC/WSJ poll (34% positive, 54% negative), except that Trump is even more unpopular (29% positive, 58% negative).
The Clintons are vulnerable to litigating Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs and sexual misconduct, except that Trump has been married three times and has battled his own allegations of sexual misconduct.
None of this is to say that Clinton will beat Trump in November; our own NBC/WSJ poll shows it to be a three-point race, and we have many twists and turns left over the next five-plus months. But for every Clinton weakness, Trump often has an even bigger one.
