Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has "reached a turning point" at which "establishment candidates" think he can win Iowa, said Bloomberg Politics Managing Editor Mark Halperin.
Speaking on a panel Monday on
MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Halperin added that "most" believe he can win the nomination, and "a significant number think he could win the White House."
He also said that campaigns were in "full freak out mode."
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"Trump may not end up as the nominee, but right now, he's changed the race, not just
leading in the Fox poll, but coming to the fair. I've been to the fair with Barack Obama at his peak, Sarah Palin at her peak, with other candidates, George Bush," Halperin said.
Halperin described time he spent this weekend with Trump in Iowa at the state fair.
"The reception Trump got here was not just about celebrity. I walked with him for 45 minutes after the helicopter ride, he came to the fair, and people were yelling things to him with passion. 'Save us,' 'You're the only one who can stop Hillary,' 'Thank you for making America great again.'
"The other campaigns — the other leading Republican campaigns — monitored Trump's behavior here. And that was part, along with the Fox poll, and along with the developments of the last couple of weeks, of them saying, as you just quoted, they now believe Trump can win Iowa."
Host Joe Scarborough then remarked, "That really changes everything in this campaign about how they react to him."
Halperin agreed.
The latest Fox News poll shows that Trump is in first place with 25 percent support nationally, more than double the support for Ben Carson who is in second place with 12 percent. The findings mirror recent polls in Iowa,
including a CNN/ORC poll released last week.
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