Donald Trump’s brief run as the “frontrunner” in the Republican primary is over, according to a PPP poll released on Tuesday.
One month ago, a handful of surveys showed Trump trouncing the GOP field, leading all comers by as much as a nine-point margin. But now, after a month of bruising press coverage, the latest PPP poll shows that Trump’s support has quickly dried up, as he’s dropped back to a tie for fifth place.
In the poll, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney paced the GOP field at 19% and 18%, respectively. Newt Gingrich took third at 13%, followed by Palin (12%), Trump (8%), and Ron Paul (8%.)
That’s a stunning turnaround from one month ago, when Trump led PPP’s national survey with 26% to Huckabee’s 17%.
But since then, Trump has taken a beating in the media. NBC questioned Trump about his his failed business ventures and bankruptcies — questions which Trump brushed off by saying he was paid millions, “for his genius.”
Also perhaps contributing to Trump’s sudden downfall is the fact that the birther population, a group Trump heavily courted by insisting that Obama release his long form birth certificate, was cut in half once Obama released that documentation.
The PPP poll was conducted May 5-8 among 610 Republican registered voters nationwide. It has a margin of error of 4.0%.
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