Trump was one of four Republican candidates who spent Saturday campaigning in Iowa during the final weekend before Wednesday’s debate.
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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, among Trump’s chief critics, wondered aloud what is happening to his party: “What does it say about GOP when a 3 & half term Gov w/ a successful record of creating jobs bows out as a reality star leads in the polls?”
Yet the 63-year-old Republican, the only African-American seeking the White House in 2016 – has tapped into the same wave of anti-establishment outrage fueling the billionaire realty TV star’s rise. He also said Carson won’t be able to bring wealth back to the U.S. “But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews and – I just refuse to impose that on others”.
“And if it doesn’t”, he said, “they will choose somebody else”. But he appears to be connecting with Republican voters at a rate that even his closest aides didn’t predict.
Ben Carson was incorrectly written off by the media as having a poor performance during the first Republican debate. Surging in the polls, Carson now wins support from 23 percent of likely GOP voters, compared to 27 percent for Trump, in the latest CBS/New York Times poll.
The poll comes just days before the top 11 candidates, who include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and current Florida Sen.
Where 71 percent of Democratic-leaning female voters said in July that they expected to vote for Clinton, only 42 percent do now, a drop of 29 points in eight weeks. A USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll released Sunday found that 24% of Republicans support Trump and 18% support Carson. But in some areas there, too, Carson is catching up.
Asked to respond to Trump’s controversial remarks about Bush’s wife — “If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico” — Bush gestured to his wife in the audience and asked for an apology.
“Probably the biggest thing – I’ve realized where my success has come from and I don’t in anyway deny my faith in God”, Carson replied. But examine them closely, and it becomes clear that Trump grasps his opponents’ weaknesses and insecurities much better than they grasp his.
“Three months ago nobody knew who he was”, said Christie Day, a volunteer organizer and first-time political activist in St. Johns County who has devoted much of the summer to promoting Carson. Neither has won over the Republican base by being the most conservative candidate in the field.
“He can read about it if he wants to”, Carson said.
Voters’ preferred second choice has also changed dramatically.
TRUMP: NBC’s Ali Vitali reports that Trump declared “we’re really killing it”, during his Dallas rally.
The difference, Trump said, is this: “I’m a dealmaker, I’ll make great deals for this country, Ben can’t do that”. “The headline is, ‘Carson surging.’ I keep saying, ‘What about Trump?’…” Bennett described an all-day “knowledge session” Monday in which experts delivered presentations on various domestic and foreign policy topics.
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Standing at center stage, Trump said he had a “phenomenal temperament” and a record in business that would help him on the world stage.
