In hypothetical GOP primary, Trump gets 50 percent of the vote

Donald Trump. — (Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

When 1,500 self-described Republican and Republican-leaning voters were asked who they would vote for in a hypothetical GOP presidential primary held today, with three established senators and a governor facing off against President Trump, 50 percent said they would cast their ballot for Trump.

GOP pollster and strategist Tony Fabrizio of Fabrizio, Lee, & Associates posted the survey results on Twitter Wednesday, commenting that Trump was "crushing a hypothetical GOP primary field. So much for the 'buyer's remorse' the D.C. insiders are convinced the GOP has." In this matchup, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) came in second place with 14 percent, followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 10 percent and Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.) each with 1 percent. The poll found that 42 percent of respondents said they would "definitely" vote for Trump, while 24 percent were undecided.

Several Twitter users questioned why Fabrizio would say Trump was "crushing it," since he's only at 50 percent just seven months into his presidency, and Fabrizio defended his word choice, arguing that it was a five-way field with "several well-known opponents, two of which ran against him previously. He is crushing Kasich or Cruz nearly 4 to 1." Others wondered why Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida wasn't part of the equation, along with the always popular "literally anyone else."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.