Donald Trump Thrives While Ben Carson Takes A Huge Dive
Donald Trump has been massively criticized for his comments about temporarily halting Muslim immigration to the United States, but that hasn’t hurt him in the polls. Yahoo News has the latest.
“Donald Trump held onto his commanding lead in the Republican race for the White House after his call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States was condemned worldwide, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, the first national survey conducted entirely after the billionaire’s remarks.”
The article adds that Trump still leads the group of Republican candidates with 35 percent support from Republican voters. This is the same percentage of voters Trump won over before the comments about Muslim immigration. Most Republican voters said they didn’t find Trump’s comments objectionable, but they did say his comments could still hurt Trump’s chances of becoming president. However, 29 percent did find Donald Trump’s comments offensive.
Perhaps one of the things that keep people on Trump’s side is that even if they are offended by his comments, he doesn’t back down. CNN quotes Trump from a recent interview.
“I have many friends that are Muslims, and I will tell you, they are so happy that I did this because they know they have a problem… No, they said it’s about time that somebody spoke up as to radicalism. You have radicalism in this country. It’s here, and it’s trying to come through,” Trump told CNN anchor Don Lemon.
Trump thinks his statements about Muslim immigration are being blown out of proportion, especially since he never said anything about permanently banning Muslims. He also said that there should be exceptions, such as with athletes. His interview hasn’t calmed down his critics, but Trump supporters are still as enthusiastic as ever.
Ben Carson, once a viable candidate for the Republican nomination, has become somewhat of a joke to voters now. The Daily Beast exposed Dr. Carson of lying about his past when it came to claims of almost stabbing someone out of anger.
“In one version of the story, Carson attempts to stab a bully with a large camping knife he had been holding. In another, he pulls a pocketknife on his friend while listening to classical music at the friend’s house. So which is it?” asks Daily Beast author Gideon Resnick.
According to the Washington Post, Ben Carson has defended the story.
“For one thing, it happened 50 years ago — half a century ago. For another thing, when people record what I’ve said, they record it in different ways. When you’ve got something from 50 years ago that’s told by many different people, it’s sort of like the party game where you whisper to people sitting in a circle. When it gets to the original person, it’s very different.”
Politico reports that Ben Carson recently blasted the Republican National Committee following a Washington Post report that nearly two dozen establishment party figures were prepping for a potential brokered convention as Donald Trump continues to lead most polls. According to the report, Carson even threatened to permanently leave the Republican party.
Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and other Republican candidates will hold a debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Do you think Donald Trump will maintain his lead after the debate? Do you think Ben Carson can make a comeback? Tell us what you think in the comments section.
[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]
