Donald Trump Tops GOP Presidential Contenders
The results of a new poll show that Donald Trump’s popularity is rising among Republican voters, with about a 3rd now supporting him in the crowded field of GOP presidential candidates.
A YouGov survey found that 28% of registered Republican voters would vote for Mr. Trump, 69 anni, as their 1st choice, more than any of the other 15 Republican candidates in the race, up from the 15% who said they would support him in another YouGov poll earlier this month, a poll that Mr. Trump also led.
A distant 2nd to Mr. Trump in the latest survey is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (14%), then Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (13%), and then retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson (7%).
When combined with the percentage of GOP voters who said they would vote for the candidate as their 2nd choice, Mr. Trump leads the GOP field with 38%, ahead of Gov. Walker (25%), Mr. Bush (20%); and then US Senator Marco Rubio (R:FL) at 19%.
Mr. Trump’s rising numbers come in the wake of comments he made about US Senator John McCain (R-AZ). Last weekend, Mr. Trump questioned Sen. McCain’s status as a war hero during a speech at the Iowa Family Leadership Summit.
A former US Navy pilot, Sen. McCain was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent more than 5 yrs as a POW (prisoner of war).
“He’s not a war hero,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s a war hero because he was captured? I like people who weren’t captured. … Perhaps he is a war hero, but right now, he said some very bad things about a lot of people.”
Mr. Trump’s comments ignited a firestorm of criticism from politicians and presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle.
In another poll taken earlier this week, 52% of likely Republican voters said they viewed Mr. Trump at least somewhat favorably, compared to 51% who said the same about Sen. McCain. However, 26% said they hold a very favorable view of Mr. Trump, and 14% said so about Sen. McCain.
Another poll this week, conducted by Public Policy Polling, found that Mr. Trump had 19% of voters’ support in the GOP race, compared to 17% for Gov. Walker.
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