William Cummings

USA TODAY

So much for the all the pundits and experts who said Donald Trump wouldn't stand a chance in the general election.

Trump would narrowly defeat Hillary Clinton 45-42%, according to a new national poll released by Fox News Wednesday. The three-point lead is within the survey's margin of error.

The poll shows Trump with the edge despite a 14-point deficit among women. Clinton would win among women 50-36%, but Trump would win by a wider, 55-33% margin among men.

Clinton is also behind in the poll despite a whopping 90-7% lead among blacks and a 62-23% lead among Hispanics. Trump makes up the difference thanks to a 55-31% lead among whites, including a 9-point lead among white women.

Trump also leads by 16 points among independents, according to the poll.

All that said, voters are far from in love with either candidate. "Overall, the voters feel the candidates lack honesty, empathy, and strong moral values, and they'll say anything to win," Fox reports. Ouch.

For example, 66% of the respondents said Clinton is not honest while 57% felt the same way about Trump. Another 57% think Clinton does not have strong moral values and 58% said that about Trump.

The poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,021 random people nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Clinton led Trump 48-41% in the same poll a month ago, Fox reported.

For the Record: And the general election starts … now

Mountains of mud set to fly in White House race