ADVERTISEMENT

Nearly Quarter of Sanders Supporters Will Vote For Trump

June 22, 2016

Nearly a quarter of those who support Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) for president will vote for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in the general election while almost half of them will not support Hillary Clinton in November, according to a recent Bloomberg Politics poll.

MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki discussed the poll on air Wednesday and how it could pose a major problem for Clinton going forward on the campaign trail.

Kornacki first explained that Sanders received 13,343,017 votes during the Democratic primary, or 43 percent of the total votes, and Clinton received 17,177064 votes for 55 percent of the total.

"So how many of those 13 million [Sanders voters] are going to be on board for Hillary Clinton?" Kornacki asked before showing the results of the Bloomberg poll.

The results show that only 55 percent of Sanders supporters will vote for Clinton in the general election.

"That’s not a very high number. That’s not the number the Clinton campaign and Democrats want to see," Kornacki said.

Kornacki compared that figure to the 22 percent of Sanders voters who, according to the Bloomberg poll, will vote for Trump in November.

"You see 22 percent. That’s nearly a quarter, nearly a quarter of Bernie Sanders supporters, right now at least, saying Donald Trump would be their candidate this fall," Kornacki said emphatically.

The poll also shows former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee, picking up 18 percent of Sanders supporters.

Kornacki described how both Trump and Johnson are making an effort to pick up Sanders supporters as many of them have said they have no desire to vote for Clinton.

"So for Hillary Clinton, there is bad news in that because she wants that number to be higher," Kornacki said. "The good news is, maybe it could get higher. Maybe Bernie Sanders gives a big speech at the convention this summer endorsing her."

Kornacki noted that Clinton is leading Trump in the Real Clear Politics average of polls by nearly six points.