Enthusiasm among Republicans for Donald Trump tops that of Arizona Sen. John McCain even after the spat that saw Trump suggest that the 2008 GOP nominee and POW was not a "war hero."
In a
Rasmussen Reports survey conducted July 20 and 21 of 1,000 likely voters, Trump and McCain were statistically tied in the percentage of Republicans who view them favorably, but a higher percentage had a very favorable opinion of the billionaire developer.
Specifically, 52 percent of likely Republican voters view Trump at least somewhat favorably while 51 percent feel that way about McCain. But 26 percent of those surveyed said they had a very favorable view of Trump while just 14 percent have a very favorable view of McCain.
On the flip side, 45 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Trump, including 22 percent who have a very unfavorable view. Again, the two are statistically tied on that score, with McCain pulling in an unfavorability rating of 44 percent, though just 16 percent say they have a very unfavorable opinion of him.
When Democrats are accounted for, Trump's favorability ratings dip to 34 percent among likely voters, while 64 percent have an unfavorable view of him. By comparison, 44 percent of all likely voters view McCain favorably compared to 47 percent who view him unfavorably.
The tiff between Trump and McCain began after McCain accused Trump of bringing out the "crazies" with his comments about illegal immigration during a rally in Arizona. Trump retaliated by
questioning McCain's status as a war hero due to the time he spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
"He's not a war hero," Trump said. "He's a war hero because he was captured? I like people who weren't captured. ... Perhaps he is a war hero, but right now, he said some very bad things about a lot of people."
Trump later criticized McCain for doing a "horrible job" on behalf of veterans, while refusing to apologize for the comments he made about his war hero status.
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