Donald Trump’s lead in the Republican presidential nominating contest isn’t just relegated to the early-primary states. He’s even winning on other high-profile candidates’ home turf.
A new Florida Atlantic University poll released on Wednesday found Trump leading the pack among likely Republican primary voters in Florida, far ahead of two home-state rivals.
Trump garnered about 48% of the support in Wednesday’s poll. He was trailed by US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) with 16%, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) with 11%, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) with about 10%.
Many early polls of Florida — which holds its primary on March 15, after the early contests and “Super Tuesday” — have Trump in the lead. The Real Clear Politics average of recent state polls clocks Trump’s support at an average of 38% — almost 20 points ahead of Cruz, the next highest-averaging candidate.
Trump himself addressed Wednesday’s poll results during a rally in Iowa on Wednesday, mocking Bush for his low, seemingly nonmoving support in polls despite airing costly television ads targeting Trump.
“Bush, down in the toilet, can you believe it?” Trump said. “Look, the guy spends — now he’s up to $79 million. I wouldn’t even mention it, but it’s a lot of these ads against me. He does these negative ads against me, otherwise I wouldn’t mention it, maybe I would. But $79 million and he’s — bing! — down in the basement.”
“I talk about polls. I’m like obsessed with polls,” he added.
As reported by Business Insider