Donald Trump has taken a commanding lead in the latest Monmouth University poll, claiming 41 percent support from Republicans or right-leaning independents — nearly triple the support of his next closest rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who rests at 14 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ben Carson trail with 10 and 9 percent respectively, while the rest of the field falls below 5 percent.
Trump's support is the highest yet in the current election cycle; the boost notably comes on the heels of his proposed plan to ban Muslims from entering the country. "It has become abundantly clear that Trump is giving his supporters exactly what they want, even if what he says causes the GOP leadership and many Republican voters to cringe,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Monmouth's poll surveyed 385 registered voters between December 10 and 13, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.