Businessman Donald Trump’s double-digit lead over the extremely crowded GOP presidential field shows no signs of lagging, according to three new polls.
{mosads}Trump takes 21 percent support in a Bloomberg Politics national poll, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (10 percent), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (8 percent) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (7 percent).
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (6 percent), Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (5 percent) and neurosurgeon Ben Carson (5 percent) follow, with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich rounding out the top 10 in the poll with 4 percent each.
Trump leads all groups measured in the survey with the exception of moderates, where Bush holds a 1-point edge.
The Bloomberg survey released Tuesday morning comes on the heels of a Fox News poll released the previous night that found Trump taking 26 percent support, followed by Bush with 15 percent and Walker with 9 percent.
A third national poll from CBS News released Tuesday morning found Trump leading the field at 24 percent, followed by Bush (13 percent) and Walker (10 percent).
While Fox News has not officially said which five recent national polls will be considered in determining the top 10 candidates for the primetime debate Thursday night, it is thought all three polls will factor into that determination.
That would place candidates such as Christie and Kasich, some of the last to formally declare their White House bids, ahead of candidates such as former Texas Gov. Rick Perry on the main debate stage for more TV viewers.
Fox News will hold another forum earlier in the day Thursday for those candidates not in the top 10 in national polling. Candidates also got a chance to appear during a forum Monday night carried live on C-SPAN.
“I look forward to being there Thursday night,” Christie said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” playing down the importance of polls early in the race showing Trump dominating the field of 17 GOP candidates.
Bloomberg also found that 71 percent support limiting the first debate in Ohio to the top 10 candidates. A narrow majority, 52 percent, said the candidates should “play nice,” while 39 percent said they should lob pointed criticisms.
The CBS poll found that nearly eight in 10 Republican primary voters, 79 percent, say that Trump says what he believes instead of what people want to hear, the highest percentage of any GOP candidate. For example, 46 percent said that Bush says what he believes, compared to 44 percent who believe he says what people want to hear.
The CBS poll of 408 Republican primary voters was conducted July 29 through Aug. 2 with a margin of error of 5 points.
The Bloomberg survey of 500 Republicans or unaffiliated voters who lean Republican was conducted July 30 through Aug. 2 with an overall margin of error of 4.4 points.
—This report was updated at 8:12 a.m.