Clinton holds big lead over Trump in U.S. election campaign: poll

This combination of file photos shows Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton(L)on June 15, 2016 and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on June 13, 2016. (AFP PHOTO)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 -- U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton holds a lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump by 9 points, according to a nationwide poll issued Tuesday.

Though there are more than 80 days to go before the election set on Nov. 8, it is suspected that time is running out on the New York billionaire who chose a more nuanced tack in his campaign amid high controversy and rising criticism.

Clinton has the support of 50 percent of voters and Trump is backed by 41 percent, which closely mirrors last week's result in the same survey conducted by the NBC News and the Survey Monkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll.

However, both candidates remain deeply unpopular among voters, the poll shows. Clinton is viewed negatively by 59 percent of voters and Trump by 64 percent.

Only 16 percent of voters said the New York real estate mogul is honest and trustworthy, while just 11 percent saying the same of the former state of secretary.

However, 42 percent of voters said the former state of secretary had the "personality and temperament to serve" as president, compared with only 17 percent said the same of Trump.

In a four-way matchup including Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and the Green Party's leader Jill Stein, Clinton leads Trump by 6 percent, while Johnson is supported by 11 percent of respondents and Stein by 4 percent.

The poll was conducted among 15,179 adults between Aug. 8 and 14. The margin of error is 1.2 percent.