Trump-Mentum: The Donald Soars To No. 2 In Iowa GOP Poll

Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association convention Friday, April 10, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Despite a week of bad news, a Quinnipiac University poll of Iowa voters released Wednesday shows no sign of the Trump-mentum slowing.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) saw his lead over the “muddled” field shrink in Iowa, where support among likely GOP caucus participants is at 18 percent, down from 21 percent in May, according to the poll. Walker is expected to formally enter the race July 13.

Billionaire and (former) reality TV star Donald Trump came in tied with former neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson at 10 percent, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) following closely behind at 9 percent each.

Bush has 8 percent backing, with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) at 7 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 5 percent. No other candidate polled above 4 percent. Five percent of those polled remained undecided.

Trump shocked poll watchers last month when the unlikely candidate polled second only to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush among likely New Hampshire voters in the GOP primary.

Outside of the poll numbers, Trump’s campaign has gotten off to a rocky start. The Spanish language television network Univision announced it would no longer air Trump’s Miss USA pageant because he called Mexican immigrants “rapists” and drug smugglers during his announcement speech. NBCUniversal, which also was set to air the pageant and was home to Trump’s reality shows “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” also said it would severing ties with him over the remarks.

The exodus continued Wednesday as department store Macy’s said it was dumping Trump’s menswear line and would end its business relationship. Trump has refused to apologize for the comments, and has doubled down on his talking points about securing the U.S. border with Mexico.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted by live interviewers and surveyed 666 Iowans from June 20-29. It had a 3.8 percent margin of error.

Correction: This post originally said Bush had opted out of the Iowa caucuses, which was incorrect. Bush said he would not participate in the Iowa Straw Poll, which has since been canceled. The post has been updated.

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