Real estate mogul Donald Trump has hit a new high at 38 percent in a poll released Tuesday — the second national poll in as many days to show Mr. Trump with his highest-ever level of support in the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
Mr. Trump was at 38 percent support among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents in the ABC News-Washington Post poll. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was next at 15 percent, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 12 percent each and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 5 percent.
Mr. Trump picked up 6 points of support since last month, all among men. The poll comes on the heels of a national Monmouth University poll released Monday that showed support for Mr. Trump hit 41 percent — a new high in that survey.
By wide margins in the ABC-Post poll, voters said they trust Mr. Trump more than Mr. Cruz, Mr. Carson, Mr. Rubio or Mr. Bush on the issues of immigration and terrorism and said he has the best chance of winning the presidency, is the strongest leader, would bring needed change and has the best personality. Mr. Carson had a narrow edge over Mr. Trump on who is more honest and trustworthy.
But support for Mr. Carson fell from 22 percent in October and November to 12 percent now, while Mr. Cruz picked up 7 points of support from last month, including a 16-point jump among women.
In a head-to-head match-up among registered voters, Mr. Trump did trail Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton by 6 points, 50 percent to 44 percent. In a survey released in September, Mrs. Clinton had led Mr. Trump by 3 points, 46 percent to 43 percent.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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