“New CNN Iowa poll — Trump 33, Cruz 20”.
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Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to the media before a town hall meeting at Furman College on Mon., Dec. 7, 2015, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt) The Texas senator Cruz is favored by 31 % of these more likely to attend the Republican caucuses, the poll showed.
Carson was second, with 12 percent, followed by Cruz and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, both at 10 percent. Ben Carson, once thought to be a Trump challenger, fell by 15 percentage points, and is now trailing in third place. The rally was Trump’s first opportunity to publicly address rival Ted Cruz’s backroom sniping at Trump, even as he desperately makes nice in public.
Nationwide, Trump continues to hold onto his lead in the GOP field at 35 percent, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.
Trump asked the Des Moines crowd, drawing cheers and noting Cruz’s rise in Iowa polls. The center-right Republican voters are looking for someone to stop Trump and Cruz at nearly any cost.
“I always expected that Cruz would do well in Iowa”.
“I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark, but we’re going to find out”.
Cruz’s campaign has countered that he opposes all energy subsidies, not just those that favor ethanol producers but also ones that benefit the oil industry.
The most recent poll shows Cruz making a rapid leap that “smashes records for upsurges in recent Iowa caucuses history”, the Register reported. Sorry to disappoint – [Trump] is terrific.
In contrast, Cruz’s support has almost trebled from 10% in October. Trump predicted Cruz would “fall like all others”.
The attacks came after word leaked that Cruz had questioned Trump’s judgment at a closed-door fundraiser, straining the rare detente between two of the race’s most outspoken candidates.
DES MOINES | Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he believes a victory in the February 1 Iowa precinct caucuses would put him on a path to secure the GOP 2016 presidential nomination in Cleveland next summer.
“I do like Ted Cruz, but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba”, Trump said referring to Cruz.
Cruz is now leading with two critical blocs in the Republican caucus electorate: evangelical conservatives (45%) and Tea Party conservatives (39%). Hard to say whether Trump’s support will collapse. For months, Cruz labored behind the scenes, courting and organizing influential faith leaders as he slowly worked to peel off the born-again believers of candidates like Ben Carson. “Don’t trust Des Moines Register poll – biased towards Trump!” he tweeted.
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Trump’s soft-handed slap at Cruz on Twitter today suggests he’s not ready to submarine him yet. The Cuban-American senator has been rising in the polls and picked up an important evangelical endorsement in the state this week.
