Could Republicans really hire Donald Trump to run for President?
In a CNN poll released today, self-identified Republican adults named the usual suspects as their top choices to represent the party in next year’s presidential election. But behind Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin came business mogul and reality television host Donald Trump, placing fifth, just two points back of the former Alaska governor.
Mike Huckabee led all potential candidates at 19%, followed by Mitt Romney (18%), Newt Gingrich (15%), and Sarah Palin (12%). Trump broke into double-digits as well, coming in at 10%.
Huckabee and Romney have led almost every national poll of the GOP field, with Palin and Gingrich rounding out the top-tier. Rep. Ron Paul has been the only other candidate to consistently poll near those top four. In CNN’s latest poll, Paul placed behind Trump, at 8%.
In the CNN poll, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, and Rick Santorum each garnered 3%, while Haley Barbour garnered 1%.
Trump has hinted at a presidential bid for several months now. In February, he spoke at CPAC, saying that he would decide on a possible White House bid by June.
The current TPM Poll Average shows that only 30% of the country has a favorable opinion of Trump, while 42.7% have an unfavorable opinion.
The CNN poll was conducted March 10-13 among 504 self-identified Republicans nationwide. It has a margin of error of 4.5%.
