South Carolina Poll: Trump Leads Haley by 35 Points in Her Own Backyard

Former President Donald Trump has a towering 35-point lead over his last remaining Republican primary opponent, former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), in South Carolina, according to a Fabrizio, Lee & Associates poll conducted for the pro-Trump MAGA Inc. PAC.

The poll, first published by the Messenger on Tuesday, shows Trump garnering 66 percent of support among likely South Carolina Republican primary voters. He more than doubles Haley’s 31 percent.

Trump’s support is comprised of 59 percent of respondents who will “definitely” vote for him and six percent who “probably” will. Conversely, aeven percent of poll participants say they will “probably” support Haley, and 24 percent “definitely” will. Another four percent are undecided.

When voters learn that former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who co-chaired the House January 6 Select Committee, endorsed Haley, her support drops to 29 percent, while Trump’s remains the same. Moreover, the share of voters who would “definitely” vote for Haley dropped from 24 percent to 21 percent.

The poll also gauged the influence of an anti-Trump ad from the Haley campaign running in South Carolina, where a narrator dubs “Biden too old” and asserts Trump is “too much chaos,” according to the Messenger.

Among those who had seen the ad, 64 percent said they would back the 45th president, and 33 percent would support Haley.

“Statistically, this margin is not different from the overall ballot, indicating this ad has had no bearing on who South Carolina [Republican primary voters] plan to vote for,” a memo from Fabrizio, Lee & Associates noted.

What is more, the poll found over two in three of all respondents approved of Haley’s performance as governor, but among those who gave her positive marks, Trump still leads 56 percent to 40 percent.

“Despite her positive job approval and millions in attack ads against President Trump, Republican Primary voters in South Carolina remain unswayed by Haley’s weak attempts to change their minds. South Carolina solidly remains Trump country,” the memo concludes.

Trump handily won the first two contests for the Republican nomination in Iowa and New Hampshire, and the field has rapidly consolidated, with leaders throughout the GOP calling for unity behind the 45th president. Despite this, Haley continues to plow forward with her campaign, telling NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday she intends to stick around until Super Tuesday, March 5.

Fabrizio, Lee, & Associates sampled 600 likely primary voters from January 28-29. The margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.