Despite facing criticism over some of his recent comments on counter-terrorism comments, Donald Trump continues to lead other Republican candidates, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
Last month, Carson was almost tied with Trump, as the former had 23 percent while the real estate mogul had 24 percent. Wednesday's poll saw Trump getting 27 percent of the Republican votes, while Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida got 17 percent, followed closely by Dr. Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas each getting 16 percent, and 5 percent for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. No other candidate got over 3 percent in the polls, while 8 percent were undecided.
Since July, Trump has been a big favorite to win the Republican elections, but on Nov. 27, support for Trump dropped by 12 points in less than a week.
According to Reuters, Trump had 43 percent of Republicans votes in a poll on Nov. 22, but on Nov. 27, the number dropped down to 31 percent. The decline follows Trump's comments after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people, where he told an NBC news reporter that he would require all Muslims within the United States to be registered to a special database, which his critics have pointed out to be eerily similar to the mandatory registration of Jews in Nazi Germany. Moreover, Trump has also called for other counter-terrorism programs in recent weeks, such as the possible surveillance of mosques in the United States, and planned attacks that would hone in on the families of suspected terrorists.
"You have to take out their families," Trump said in an interview with "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday. "When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families!"
On Thursday's debate over war on terrorism, his opponents called Trump's plans impractical and he was also accused of encouraging anti-Muslim prejudice. Trump appeared to be unfazed by the comments as he said, "I'm gonna win, unless something happens."
Assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll Tim Malloy gave his take on Republicans' continued support for Trump, despite his controversial stance on a number of issues, saying that the Republican candidate appears to be bulletproof despite being challenged over his recent comments.
"It doesn't matter what he says or who he offends, whether the facts are contested or the 'political correctness' is challenged, Donald Trump seems to be wearing Kevlar," said Malloy.
