With nearly a week to go before the US presidential election, Republican nominee Donald Trump has pulled up and is just one point behind Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton, the latest Washington Post-ABC News Tracking Poll says.
The results are based on a random sample of 1,781 adults surveyed by telephone on October 25-28, and are within the poll's margin of error.
The latest poll comes as the FBI has obtained a warrant to begin searching newly discovered emails belonging to top Clinton aide Huma Abedin which are believed to have been found on the laptop of her estranged husband, former congressman Anthony Weiner.
Clinton had enjoyed a 12-point margin last week.
Trump's closing in on Clinton also highlights that Republicans' are uniting behind their presidential nominee, which has placed GOP leaders who are against him in a vulnerable position.
According to the Washington Post-ABC News Tracking Poll, a majority of all likely voters say they are unmoved by the FBI's announcement Friday that it may review additional emails from Clinton's time as secretary of state.
Among those who said they now would be less likely to support Clinton, 68 per cent are Republicans or Republican-leaning independents, while 17 per cent lean towards Democratic. Only 9 per cent are independents who lean toward neither party.
Despite the ongoing FBI probe, South Carolina newspaper The State went on to endorse Clinton on Saturday.
While admitting it's "baffled by her decision as secretary of state to use a private server for emails," and noting that the decision "continues to haunt her campaign," the paper said it's confident as president that she would appropriately handle classified materials-while Trump "is simply unfit for the presidency, or any public office," the Post reported.
The one-point race sees Libertarian Gary Johnson with support from 4 per cent of likely voters, and Jill Stein of the Green Party polling at 2 per cent.
When respondents were asked who they would choose between Clinton and Trump if there were no other options, 49 per cent picked Clinton, while 46 per cent chose Trump — a statistically insignificant margin, as the Washington Post notes.
Trump has stepped up his attack on Clinton alleging that the former secretary of state set up an illegal server for the purpose of shielding her "criminal conduct" from public and asserted that the action was "willful, deliberate and purposeful".
"As you've heard, it was just announced on Friday that the FBI is reopening their investigation into the criminal and illegal conduct of Hillary Clinton. Hillary has nobody but herself to blame for her mounting legal problems," the Republican presidential candidate said in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Clinton has termed the announcement by FBI “unprecedented” and said it was “pretty strange” for the FBI to put such news out with so little information right before an election.
“It’s not just strange, it’s unprecedented, and it’s deeply troubling,” she said at an election rally.
