Former President Donald Trump continues to lead the 2024 Republican presidential primary field in Iowa by more than 20 percentage points, according to a new NBC News/Des Moines Register poll released Monday.
The survey of likely Iowa caucus attendees shows Trump with 42% support, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 19%, and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., at 9%.
"I think [Trump] delivered on all of his promises. I think he's a problem solver. And I think that's what he did, and I think he did a great job of it," Iowa Republican Bob Siddens, 70, a poll respondent who is supporting Trump, told NBC News.
Trump has the largest Republican caucus lead since former President George W. Bush in 2000, NBC News reported.
The poll was conducted by Selzer & Company on Aug. 13-17 with 406 likely Republican caucus attendees and has a margin of error of plus/minus 4.9%.
While Trump's lead might seem insurmountable before the Jan. 15 caucus gatherings, many survey respondents said they will consider other candidates, including DeSantis, Scott, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
"I've been doing this for a long time," Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer, who has conducted this Iowa survey for the past three decades, told NBC News. "We have had candidates who started low and ended up winning. Anyone can come to Iowa and win. Anybody."
Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said they could be persuaded to change their minds. That news might give hope to most of the GOP contenders as they prepare for the first Republican National Committee debate on Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Trump said he won't participate.
"[The] New CBS Poll, just out, has me leading the field by 'legendary' numbers. Trump 62%, 46 Points above DeSanctimonious (who is crashing like an ailing bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, 'Aida' Hutchinson 1%," Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social Sunday.
"The public knows who I am and what a successful presidency I had, with energy independence, strong borders, and military, biggest ever tax and regulation cuts, no inflation, the strongest economy in history, and much more. I will, therefore, not be doing the debates!"
Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.