The best known GOP candidate and least liked nationwide.
This really exceeds our wildest expectations—Donald Trump has shot straight to the top of a
USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, which shows him leading the GOP field at 17 percent, trailed by Jeb! at 14 percent, with everyone else in single digits.
But guess what?
The brash billionaire is also the weakest competitor among the top seven GOP candidates against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Wow. Who could have seen that coming after his overwhelmingly positive campaign? Hillary trounces Trump among voters nationwide by 17 points (51-34 percent); while Jeb! is Clinton's closest competitor, losing to her by just four points at 46-42 percent.
Nearly half of all those surveyed, 48%, say Trump's comments about illegal immigrants, including characterizing Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers, matter a lot to their vote. Just 15% say the comments make them more likely to support him; 48% say they make them less likely.
Trump is also the best-known Republican in the race with just two percent of voters saying they don't know who he is. But this is really delicious—61 percent of voters view him unfavorably while just 23 percent have a favorable preception. That's a 38-point deficit. Solid! And no room for growth in popularity since basically everyone in the country already knows he's a blowhard.