Cruz, a Tea Party favorite, for his part, is hotly pursued by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson (14 percent) and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio with 12 percent. In RealClearPolitics’ average of polling, Trump has 30.8 percent support, more than 18 points ahead of Carson, who remains in second with 17.5 percent. A Quinnipiac University survey released earlier this week showed Trump rising by 3 points, to 27 percent, as Carson dropped by 7 points.
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Mr. Trump picked up 9 points of support since a CNN/ORC poll conducted in mid-October, Mr. Cruz gained 12 points, and Mr. Rubio picked up 4 points.
He told members of the Republican Jewish Coalition that they should back his “ideas and leadership skills” and question some of the “big personalities on the stage”, an apparent reference to front-runner Donald Trump.
Jeb Bush and Gov. John Kasich railed against Trump on last Sunday’s talk shows as if controlled by a single puppet master, claiming that he is not a serious candidate. Fifteen percent believe that of Rubio, 11 percent for Cruz, and 10 percent for Carson.
The network’s report on the findings added, “The poll reflects Trump’s dominance over the rest of the field on the issues voters deem most important to them”. It’s highly likely that the registered Republican respondents whom they queried were still thinking about illegal immigration when they were asked about the Republican candidate they would support for the presidential nomination.
Looking at those Republicans who consider each issue to be “extremely important” to their vote, Trump’s standing on each issue is even stronger. In the hours after the shooting, Trump initially cast such shootings “a mental health issue, to a large extent”.
And while several at the forum, which featured all 14 of the Republicans running for president, spoke vehemently about the need to take on radical Islam, they generally avoided anti-Muslim rhetoric at the event, which occurred as it was still unclear whether the previous day’s workplace shooting by a Muslim couple in San Bernardino, Calif., was linked to any militant movement.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has not performed almost as well as Trump in opinion polls. Thirty-seven percent also say he’s the GOP candidate best able to handle the responsibilities of being commander-in-chief.
Even more say such a mass deportation wouldn’t be possible (81 per cent).
Trump’s business roots help him on the economy, with 55 percent says he’s the guy. Trump’s rhetoric, including his revival of raising doubts about who Obama “reall” is, is showing that is precisely what the Republican rank and file want.
While the other candidates used their platform to attack US President Barack Obama, Trump turned on his audience during his remarks. He is now greater than doubled the support of his nearest rivals, Sen.
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Showing why he is the favoured candidate of right-wing US Jews – and potentially that of billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson – Mr Rubio also hit out at the White House for having “no more interest” in the peace process.
