Poll: 61 percent say Trump hurts GOP brand

A majority of Americans believe GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump is damaging his party’s brand, according to a new poll.

Sixty-one percent say Trump is “harmful” to his party’s image in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday.

{mosads}Twenty-seven percent believe he represents positive change for the GOP, while 8 percent think Trump is just reflecting current Republican values.

The poll also found low national approval for Trump’s language and behavior on the campaign trail.

Fifty percent say his comments are “frequently insulting” and that he has the “wrong approach on many issues.”

Twenty-one percent say his public persona “bothers” them but believe he is “raising important issues.”

Eighteen percent believe Trump “tells it like it is” and has the “right approach on many issues,” the poll found. Another 10 percent said none of those options describe their opinion of Trump.

Voters are also skeptical of a potential Trump presidency moving the country in the right direction.

Fifty-two percent say Trump would bring “the wrong kind of change,” versus 27 percent who say he would deliver the “right kind.”

Approximately 18 percent say he won’t deliver change, with 3 percent unsure.

Trump also has the highest negatives of any White House hopeful from either party, according to the poll.

Sixty-four percent have a negative view, with 25 percent viewing him favorably.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is the second-least-liked presidential candidate, with a 45 percent positive, 27 percent negative split.

NBC News/Wall Street Journal surveyed 1,200 registered voters via cell and landline telephone interviews from March 3 to 6. It has a 2.8 percent margin of error.

The poll comes one day after Trump won three out of four Tuesday voting contests, taking Hawaii, Massachusetts and Mississippi.

He leads the other GOP presidential candidates by more than 14 points nationwide, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.