Donald Trump is "poisonous in many ways" — and he would have a very tough time making amends with the Republican Party should he not win the 2016 presidential nomination, pollster John Zogby told
Newsmax TV on Tuesday.
"While his views may have some legitimacy within the Republican base, it's the persona of Donald Trump and it's also how he is discussing these issues that really make him toxic," Zogby, of Zogby Analytics, told "Newsmax Prime" host J.D. Hayworth. "So it's hard to see a rapprochement or an effort to build bridges."
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV on
DirecTV Ch. 349, DISH Ch. 223 and
Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system —
Click Here Now
"I don't think that that's his MO anyway," the pollster added. "I don't think he knows how to build those kinds of political bridges."
"Frankly, if he doesn't win the nomination, you know the talk is that out of revenge, at the very least, he may go the third-party road," Zogby said.
Trump blasted past other GOP candidates in the latest poll by The Washington Post and ABC News, with 24 percent. He is followed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, at 13 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, with 12 percent.
"Obviously, he has tapped into something: a lot of the anger, a lot of the rejectionism that we have constantly been talking about," Zogby told Hayworth, adding, "the fact is that he is simply dominating the news."
"The other candidates are relegated to — if they're lucky — a one-word sound bite on the news, rejecting or opposing whatever it is … about Donald Trump."
The billionaire developer is also spewing "a hate-oriented message," Zogby said.
"There are elements of hate in this message. They're also attacking Republican icons. John McCain was, in fact, the standard bearer of the party in 2008, plus in addition to his own base, there is that whole John McCain hero thing, which is totally legitimate — and Donald Trump attacked that."
"He's going for the jugular, going for the personal," he said.
This is different from advocating for the rule of law, Zogby told Hayworth.
"There are other people on the end of his barbs. So, it's not like he's talking conceptually or talking about the law."
"He is naming names. In the case of John McCain, naming names in the case of those who oppose him, and treating it very personally and showing himself to be rather thin-skinned," he added.
"And then there's the whole Latino thing. You can talk about illegal aliens, but at the same time, you have to understand that talking that way about illegal aliens does alienate a part of the electorate that the Republicans have to build bridges with."
"This isn't the way to do it."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.