Trump's Tart Tongue Sours Poll Numbers

Donald Trump has seemed immune to national polling damage by his controversial comments on the campaign trail – until this week.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Friday shows Trump topped the GOP presidential primary field with 31 percent support in a rolling poll during a five-day period– down from 43 percent registered last Sunday.

It was the biggest drop in the real estate billionaire's standing since he ascended to the top of the field in July, Reuters reports.

Here's how the GOP field stacks up:

• Donald Trump: 31 percent
• Ben Carson: 14.9 percent
• Marco Rubio: 8.4 percent
• Ted Cruz: 8.4 percent
• Jeb Bush: 6.5 percent
• Mike Huckabee: 4.8 percent
• John Kasich: 4.5 percent
• Chris Christie: 4.3 percent
• Jim Gilmore: 2.8 percent
• Rand Paul: 2.6 percent
• Carly Fiorina: 1.8 percent
• George Pataki: 1.7 percent
• Rick Santorum: 1.5 percent
• Lindsey Graham: 0.3 percent
• Wouldn't vote: 6.5 percent 

Trump's crash comes after comments he made in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more – including remarks about a Muslim registry and a mocking reference to a New York Times reporter's physical disability.

Trump isn't the only front-runner to slide in the latest survey: Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, has seen his poll numbers drift downward since late October, when he trailed Trump by 6 points.

But Trump's drop seems all the more stark in light of his poll resilience throughout his campaign despite a series of rude remarks.

In an analysis of polls of Republican voters after each verbal outburst, and of polls to see if more GOP voters were turning against him, Washington Post political writer Philip Bump finds Trump virtually untouched:

Using polling averages from Real Clear Politics, Bump analyzes controversial Trump comments that have hit the headlines, and finds they've barely registered in his polling dominance.

For example:

• Trump's remark about illegal immigrants being "rapists" in June didn't send the real estate billionaire's numbers into a dive.
• His dis of Arizona Sen. John McCain's war record in July didn't stunt his rising numbers.
• His rude August response to Fox News-hosted debate moderator Megyn Kelly saw his poll numbers level off – only to spring back up.
• A retweeted dig at Iowa voters in October was followed by a rise.

"His lead did start to slip a bit in September and October – but that was because Ben Carson was gaining ground more than it was because Trump was faltering," Bump writes.

Bump notes the steady polling may be attributable to Trump's "core base of support, the people who polling has repeatedly shown are solidly for Trump come-what-may."

But, he argues, he's not turning off increasing numbers of voters either; there hasn't been any increase in the number of people who see him as a candidate they'd never support despite the instances of bad verbal behavior.

Comparing Quinnipiac University polls May 28, July 30, Aug. 27, Sept. 24 and Nov., 4,  and its question to GOP voters if there was any candidates they'd refuse to support, the number – though high – "hasn't increased consistently at all."

In July, Trump was viewed favorably by 50 percent of Republican voters, versus 33 percent who viewed him unfavorably. In the November survey, his numbers were 63 and 30.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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