A post on Threads with 5,000 likes falsely claims that Hillary Clinton had a 12-point lead over Donald Trump just a week before the 2016 election. “This poll is from a week before the 2016 election,” the post reads. “Do not stop. No brakes, full gas.”
The image in the post reflects real polling data, but it’s not from a week before the election. The poll featured in the post was released by Bloomberg on June 15, 2016.
The 2016 election polling data was volatile throughout the campaign, given that both candidates had negative approval ratings. Clinton did have a 7.1-point lead over Trump in the RealClearPolitics polling average as late as October 18, 2016. It’s impossible to point to one reason the polls narrowed in the final days of the election, but on October 28, FBI Director James Comey announced he was reopening his investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server.
Clinton’s polling lead did shrink in the final days before the election. A Bloomberg poll conducted from November 4 through November 6 of 2016 saw Clinton leading Trump 46-43, the FiveThirtyEight polling average showed Clinton leading 48.5-44.9, and RealClearPolitics had Clinton up by just 3.2 points, 46.8 to 43.6. She ended up securing 48.2 percent of the vote nationally to Trump’s 46.1 percent, but lost the Electoral College vote 304 to 227.
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