Donald Trump could be headed for a catastrophic general election defeat

Donald Trump could be headed towards a catastrophic general election defeat if he becomes the Republican presidential nominee, according to a host of recent polling and analysis.

There were gasps on Friday when the University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato posted new projections showing that Trump could lose the Electoral College vote to Hillary Clinton 347-191.

Sabato is not alone in forecasting such a wipeout. Trump is trailing both Clinton and Bernie Sanders by double digits in some national polls. He is the most unpopular potential nominee in living memory. A recent Washington Post poll showed him with negative ratings in every single key voting category, including crucial ones that any Republican needs to win, such as independents (where he has a 64% negative rating) and white women (a 68% negative rating). Recent polls have shown Clinton running neck-and-neck with Trump even in such bedrock Republican states such as Utah.

“There is no precedent for this,” Republican pollster Neil Newhouse told the New York Times on Saturday. “In the modern polling era, since around World War II, there hasn’t been a more unpopular potential presidential nominee than Donald Trump.”