Former President Donald Trump is remaining “dominant” ahead of the second Republican primary debate, which he is not expected to participate in, this week’s Morning Consult survey released Monday found.
The survey found Trump maintaining his firm lead in the GOP primary race with 58 percent support — 43 points ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who came in a distant second with 15 percent support among likely Republican primary voters.
Anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy came just six points behind with nine percent support and is followed closely by both former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence, with seven percent and six percent, respectively.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott garnered two percent, as did former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Both North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson saw one percent support each.
The portion of the survey was taken September 22-24, among 3,552 potential GOP primary voters. It has a +/- 2 percent margin of error.
The results come mere days ahead of the second GOP primary debate, taking place in Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Just seven candidates will appear on the debate stage — DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Haley, Pence, Scott, Christie, and Burgum. Hutchinson, a Trump critic, missed the mark but made it clear that he does not intend to drop out of the race — at least, not yet.
“Despite falling short of the RNC’s polling requirement for inclusion in the second Presidential Primary Debate, I will continue our campaign to bring out the best of America with events scheduled in Iowa, New Hampshire, and across the country in the next several weeks,” Hutchinson stated, explaining that he measures success “based on the response I receive in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire.”
“My goal is to increase my polling numbers to 4% in an early state before Thanksgiving,” he continued. “If that goal is met, then I remain competitive and in contention for either Caucus Day or Primary Day.”
However, Tuesday’s RealClearPolitics (RCP) average of polls shows Hutchinson at the bottom of the pack, polling at an average of zero percent in the Hawkeye State and 0.7 percent in New Hampshire.
Like the first debate, Trump will skip the second GOP debate, opting to meet with striking autoworkers in Michigan. He blasted the Republican National Committee (RNC) this week, lamenting that it should be focusing on issues such as automatic voter registration in Pennsylvania than hosting “meaningless Debates where I am up by more than 50 points.”
“Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and others, are far more important than ‘Aida,’ Sloppy Chris, Lyin’ Mike Pence, Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley, Ron (‘Dead Campaign’) DeSanctimonious, and the others,” he said.
