Donald Trump has a double-digit lead in the GOP presidential primary as rival Sen. Ted Cruz closes in — and a big majority of Trump supporters say he should launch his own White House bid if he isn't the party's pick, a new poll shows.
The
CBS News poll released Thursday has Trump with 42 percent support among GOP voters, the Texas lawmaker with 29 percent, and Ohio Gov. Kasich with 18 percent.
Trump had a 20-point advantage over Cruz in a survey last month, CBS News reports.
But if Trump loses the party's nomination this summer despite having more delegates than his rivals, 63 percent of Trump supporters say he should run as an independent or third-party candidate, the poll shows.
In other findings:
- If Kasich were to drop out, the real estate billionaire would lead Cruz 48 percent to 38 percent.
- Trump leads among men, 44 percent to Cruz's 31 percent and Kasich's 19 percent, and women, who give Trump 44 percent, Cruz 29 percent and Kasich 19 percent.
- Among very conservative voters, Cruz nets 46 percent to Trump's 40 percent.
- Nationwide, 63 percent of voters view Trump unfavorably, a 6-point increase from last month.
- Among women voters, 69 percent have negative views of Trump, 48 percent have a negative opinion of Cruz and 20 percent look unfavorably upon Kasich.
The poll's margin of error for the entire sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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