Donald Trump's remarkable domination of the GOP field of presidential candidates appears to be increasing, but the billionaire doesn't fair so well in a hypothetical general election match up against Democrats -- including Bernie Sanders, according to a Quinnipiac University National poll released Thursday, July 30.
Trump leads with 20% support among Republicans, while Scott Walker is second at 13% and Jeb Bush ranks third at 10% in the poll. None of the other 13 GOP hopefuls topped 6%.
But Trump's vulnerability may lie in the "no way" measurement. The poll reports 30% of Republicans say there is "no way" they would support him in the general election.
"They love him and they hate him," said poll assistant director Tim Malloy. "Donald Trump triumphs on the stump so far, but do voters really want him? Maybe not so much."
The anti-Trump sentiment in the GOP is enough to derail Trump's train to the White House, even against Bernie Sanders -- the independent senator from Vermont who is shown with just 17% support with Democrats versus Hillary Clinton's 55%.
Sanders would beat Trump 45-37% if the election were held today, according to the poll. Bush would win 44-39 versus Sanders, it says. Walker would also win against Sanders 42-37%, it says.
A Clinton-Trump showdown would result in a landslide 48-36% victory for the Democrats, although the former first lady would only squeeze out a 44-43% win against Walker. Former Florida Gov. Bush would barely beat Clinton 42-41%, the poll says. However, the poll has an error margin of +/- 2.4 percentage points, making the fictional races with Bush and Walker a statistical deadheat for Clinton.
The Democrat who would compete best against all of the GOP's top contenders is not yet an official candidate. The newest poll says Vice President Joe Biden would beat Trump 49-37%, Bush with a 43-42% vote, while tying Walker at 43-43%.
The Quinnipiac University National poll suggests that both Trump and Clinton have serious trust issues with voters. A majority 58% say Trump is not honest and truthworthy, while 57% say the same about Clinton.
"Republicans say Trump is honest and Democrats say Clinton is honest, but among all voters, both candidates come up short," Malloy asked. "How can you become a general election front-runner if most voters don't trust you?"
Trump continues to breathe the most social media oxygen among candidates in both parties, according to the Lead Stories' Trendolizer ranking of social network audience interest. The system measures in near-realtime the hourly rate of likes, posts, pins and tweets for each candidate on a range of social networks globally. Sanders is also often at or near the top, typically getting more attention than Clinton.
Our Trendolizer (patent pending) scours social networks for the hottest trending stories about presidential polls. Scroll down to see the latest.
