As 13 Republican presidential hopefuls braced for the final debate of the year, front-runner Donald Trump hit an all-time high in two national polls, with one of them catapulting him to 41 per cent and putting his immediate rival at a distant second with just 14 per cent support.
Far from being hurt by his recent anti-Muslim rhetoric, Trump appears to have benefited with a majority of Republican and Republican-leaning voters supporting his call to bar the entry of Muslims into the United States “until our country’s representatives can figure out what’s going on”.
While a Monmouth University poll put Trump’s support at 41 per cent (the first time he has crossed the 40 per cent mark), followed by Senator Ted Cruz at 14 per cent, another poll conducted by The Washington Post/ABC News put Trump at 38 per cent, followed by Cruz at 15 per cent.
“The results are the latest sign that Trump’s outspoken comments on immigration and terrorism continue to find an audience among rank-and-file Republicans in spite of sharp condemnation from Democrats, GOP leaders, some of Trump’s rivals and a chorus of world leaders,” The Post reported.
The Monmouth University noted that the results “represent a big jump in Trump’s support and a rearrangement of the deck chairs in the second tier”. “After polling between 26% and 30% in Monmouth polls throughout the late summer and fall, Trump’s showing has increased by 13 points from his 28% result in mid-October,” it said.
The two polls were clearly at variance with the finding of a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, released on Monday, which suggested a tightening of the race between Trump and Cruz, with the two polling 27 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.
All the polls, however, confirmed the decline of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. After having been at No. 2 for a long spell, Carson is now placed in the fourth slot in two polls, trailing behind Senator Marco Rubio.
The Republican debate on Tuesday night, being hosted by CNN in las Vegas, will focus on national security — regarded by Trump’s supporters as one of his strong areas.