This post has been updated.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) edged ahead of Donald Trump in a new national poll out Wednesday, a sign that Trump was wounded by his last debate performance.
In the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Cruz is the top pick among 28 percent of Republican primary voters, with Trump at 26 percent support.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) polled at 17 percent, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 11 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 10 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush trailing behind at 4 percent.
The poll of 800 registered voters was conducted between Feb. 14 and 16, after the most recent Republican presidential debate in South Carolina and Trump’s decisive victory in the New Hampshire primary.
The new poll is out of step with recent national polls, which show Trump maintaining an easy lead in the Republican race.
TPM’s PollTracker Average shows Trump at 36 percent support nationally, with Cruz at 19.7 percent.
No matter who’s driving, it’s still a clown car.
Time for Trump to stop hedging and really go for it!!
…or a jackass race.
Yeah, I’m sick to death of him pussy-footing around. He needs to speak up, and tell the voters what he’s really thinking, instead of doing all that “triangulating.”
CW is that this is an outlier. Other polls, national and state don’t reconcile with this.