Despite the widespread backlash after his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States, Donald Trump has not only maintained but expanded his lead in the Republican presidential primary, according to a new national poll.
The survey, conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News entirely after Trump proposed his ban, finds support for Trump at 38% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents — up 6 percentage points from a Post/ABC poll in mid-November.
Ted Cruz places second with 15% support, up 8 points from the previous Post/ABC poll. The Texas senator and Tea Party favorite has broken out from the crowded GOP pack in recent weeks, storming past Trump into first place in Iowa, and leapfrogging rivals Ben Carson and Marco Rubio in national polls.
Rubio and Carson, meanwhile, are tied for third at 12%. No other candidate is in double digits, with Jeb Bush in fifth place at 5%, trailed by Chris Christie at 4%, and John Kasich and Rand Paul at 2%. All other candidates register 1% support or less.
Though Trump’s poll numbers have repeatedly appeared immune to controversy throughout his campaign, criticism of his plan to bar Muslim entry into the U.S. was widespread and bipartisan.
The Post/ABC poll, however, shows that over half of Republicans — 59% — agree with Trump’s proposed ban of Muslim immigrants.
But while the Post/ABC poll reveals robust support for Trump and his ideas among Republicans, there are warning signs for the GOP front-runner as well — particularly when it comes to the general election.
According to the poll, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton beats Donald Trump 53% to 40% among all adults and 50% to 44% among registered voters in a hypothetical matchup. And while a majority of Republicans support his Muslim ban, 60% of all adults say it is the wrong thing to do.
Furthermore, 69% of adults surveyed said they would feel anxious with a Trump presidency — with 49% saying they would feel “strongly” anxious.
Each Republican candidate will get another chance to take control of the race at the last Republican debate of the year tonight on CNN in Las Vegas.
The poll was conducted December 10-13 among 1,002 adults. General elections results had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results for the Republican primary came from 362 Republican or Republican leading registered voters, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.
