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Former President Donald Trump has pulled out to a wide lead over his next-closest Republican primary rivals as Iowans head to the polls on Monday during the first-in-the-nation caucus.
“Overall, 48% of likely caucusgoers say Trump would be their first choice, 20% name former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and 16% name Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with the rest of the field below 10%,” CNN reported on Sunday.
“Trump stood at 51% in the December DMR/NBC poll and 43% in October, with his chief rivals in the teens in both of those prior polls,” the outlet noted further, adding:
Overall, roughly two-thirds of likely caucusgoers – 68% – say their minds are made up about whom to support. The poll was fielded among 705 likely GOP caucusgoers during the final stretch of campaigning from January 7 to January 12, with Trump’s backers far more likely to say they are committed to their candidate than those supporting other candidates.
About 8 in 10 Trump supporters – 82% – say their minds are made up, up from December when 70% said they were locked in. Fewer Haley backers, 63%, or DeSantis supporters, 64%, are similarly locked in, though both have solidified a majority of their supporters for the first time in the NBC/DMR poll’s tracking of this measure.
Meanwhile, Trump blasted Fox News over the weekend, accusing the network of “surrendering” and giving unwarranted positive coverage of his GOP primary rivals.
Trump questioned Fox’s continued coverage of a “Fake CNN Poll” on Truth Social, seemingly alluding to a CNN survey from Tuesday that identifies former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley as trailing Trump by single digits in the New Hampshire Republican primary. Trump referred to the survey as a “fake outlier.”
Additionally, Trump launched an assault on Steve Doocy, the host of “Fox & Friends,” accusing him of “desperately attempting to save DeSanctimonious, a ship that was sinking,” and further speculating, “What happened to that individual?”
It appears that Trump was responding to Doocy’s remarks on Wednesday, in which he speculated whether the resources devoted to Iowa by the campaign of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would result in an unexpectedly strong performance in Monday’s Iowa caucuses.
A CNN/University of New Hampshire poll indicated that Haley lagged behind Trump in New Hampshire, 32% to 39%. This represents a 12-point swing for the former governor of South Carolina since the November poll.
Nevertheless, Trump maintains a significant lead over DeSantis in the Republican primary field on a national level. In Iowa, Trump leads DeSantis by over 30 points, according to the poll tracker at FiveThirtyEight. This is despite DeSantis dedicating substantial resources to the state, which includes a visit to all 99 counties and the endorsement of Governor Kim Reynolds.
Trump’s polling among average, working-class Americans has been climbing for months, but a new survey shows him with an even more commanding lead among that voting demographic.
The Center Square’s polling of “2,573 likely voters, conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights, shows Trump’s support is highest among Republican voters making less than $50,000 and those without a college degree.”
The poll revealed that among all probable Republican and Republican-leaning voters, Trump enjoys a substantial lead over other GOP contenders. Among these likely voters, 61 percent expressed their preference for Trump. Following far behind were former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley with 13 percent and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 12 percent. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy garnered 7 percent support, while former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has since suspended his campaign, secured just 2 percent, the Center Square reported.
Among voters with a household income of less than $50,000, Trump garnered the support of 70%. For voters in the $50,000 to $100,000 income range, the former president had 58% support. However, this figure declined to 51% for those with a household income above $100,000 annually. Regardless of the income level, Trump enjoyed more support than all of his GOP competitors combined, the outlet noted further.
“Voters without a college degree backed Trump with 68% support compared with 48% for those with a college degree,” the outlet’s report noted further, citing the survey data.