This Poll Explains Why Donald Trump Is Losing

Donald Trump has gone from Republican presidential frontrunner to nominee, but it's quickly becoming apparent that the things aren't going so well for him anymore. He's had a downright blistering couple weeks of coverage since the end of the Republican National Convention, and now a new poll is highlighting which things seem to be hurting him the most. So why is Trump losing? There are a few things he's said and done that people really haven't liked.

The answers came from a new Bloomberg poll, which asked people to state how bothered they were by a slew of Trump-related controversies. The poll was conducted by Seltzer & Company, too, and that's meaningful ― polling super-site FiveThirtyEight gives them a perfect A+ pollster rating, which means that in terms of credibility and past performance, these are numbers that probably deserve to be pored over for a while.

And what the poll found was extremely informative. Out of nine questions posed about Trump-related concerns that have been raised, the single issue that bothered people the most was unsurprising. Trump's crude, mocking physical imitation of Serge Kovaleski of The New York Times, who suffers from a congenital joint condition, couldn't be overlooked. In fact, a staggering 83 percent of respondents deemed it something that bothered them (62 percent were bothered a lot, 21 percent a little).

Notably, a full 15 percent said that they weren't bothered by Trump mocking Kovaleski, which was surprising. Here are the numbers for each of the nine Trump-related issues and controversies the poll asked about.

• "Trump's criticism of a fallen soldier's Muslim parents after they spoke at the Democratic National Convention" was rated "bothers a lot" by 56 percent, "bothers a little" by 19 percent, "bothers not at all" by 21 percent, and "not sure" by four percent. In total, 75 percent responded that they were bothered.

• "Trump's statement that working hard in business was a sacrifice, after the soldier's parents said he had never sacrificed" was rated "bothers a lot" by 48 percent, "bothers a little" by 25 percent, "bothers not at all" by 23 percent, and "not sure" by four percent. In total, 73 percent responded that they were bothered.

• "Trump's praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin" was rated "bothers a lot" by 42 percent, "bothers a little" by 27 percent, "bothers not at all" by 27 percent, and "not sure" by four percent. In total, 69 percent responded that they were bothered.

• "Trump's suggestion that if he were president, the U.S. may not automatically defend all NATO allies" was rated "bothers a lot" by 50 percent, "bothers a little" by 24 percent, "bothers not at all" by 24 percent, and "not sure" by three percent. In total, 74 percent responded that they were bothered.

• "Trump's statement that he alone can fix the country's problems" was rated "bothers a lot" by 54 percent, "bothers a little" by 21 percent, "bothers not at all" by 25 percent, and "not sure" by one percent. In total, 75 percent responded that they were bothered.

• "Trump's suggestion that Russian hackers try to find Hillary Clinton's deleted e-mails" was rated "bothers a lot" by 45 percent, "bothers a little" by 21 percent, "bothers not at all" by 33 percent, and "not sure" by one percent. In total, 66 percent responded that they were bothered.

• "Trump's decision not to release his tax returns" was rated "bothers a lot" by 44 percent, "bothers a little" by 24 percent, "bothers not at all" by 31 percent, and "not sure" by one percent. In total, 68 percent responded that they were bothered.

• "Trump's criticism of a reporter that was seen as mocking the reporter's physical disability" was rated "bothers a lot" by 62 percent, "bothers a little" by 21 percent, "bothers not at all" by 15 percent, and "not sure" by two percent. In total, 83 percent responded that they were bothered.

• "Lawsuits accusing the Trump University real-estate program of fraud and racketeering" was rated "bothers a lot" by 44 percent, "bothers a little" by 27 percent, "bothers not at all" by 26 percent, and "not sure" by three percent. In total, 71 percent responded that they were bothered.

In simple terms, the attacks on Kovaleski appear to be the undisputed way that Trump has offended the American public. It's worth noting that the poll's full sample has a stated margin of error of 3.1 points, but even so, Trump's attacks against the reporter stick out among the others. Not that any of these numbers are encouraging for him, to be clear. The least-bothersome issue — Trump's invitation to Russian hackers — was still deemed troubling by a solid 66 percent.

If you watched the Democratic National Convention, then these numbers probably don't come as much of a shock to you. The Kovaleski issue was raised repeatedly, with multiple speakers referencing it from the stage, which was a dead giveaway that they had some compelling internal polls speaking to how effective it was.

It is worth noting that it's nice to actually refer to Kovaleski by his name, however. As a career journalist who's done work for The Washington Post, The New York Daily News, and The New York Times, Kovaleski deserves far better than being constantly referenced as a nameless "disabled reporter" whom Trump smeared.

Regardless, this latest poll lays the state of the race pretty bare. Trump has gotten away with a lot of things, but it's clear that mocking Kovaleski is one thing for which he will never be forgiven.