The latest polls of the Iowa caucuses show former President Donald Trump retaining a large lead in the state, holding over 50% of Republican support just five days before 2024 primary voting officially kicks off, according to the Real Clear Politics average.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Trump leads the GOP field in Iowa with 52.2% as former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (16.6%) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (16.4%) fight for second place in the polls, per the RCP average. Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (7%), former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (3.4%), and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (0.6%) round out the GOP candidates heading into the Iowa caucuses, which take place on Monday, January 15.
The most recent poll, conducted between January 6 and January 8, comes from the Trafalgar Group, which puts Trump at 52% and Haley and DeSantis both at 18%. All other GOP candidates were under 6%, according to Trafalgar. A Morning Consult poll conducted between January 1 and January 7 has Trump at 58%, Haley in second at 15%, and DeSantis in third at 14%. Ramaswamy polled much better in the Morning Consult survey, hitting 10%, while Christie remained at 3%.
Haley and DeSantis will take the stage in Des Moines on Wednesday evening to face off in a CNN debate. Meanwhile, Trump, who qualified for the debate, will instead sit down with Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum for a town hall, which will also take place in Des Moines.
The Haley-DeSantis debate will be the smallest yet in the GOP primary, and CNN said the debate will focus on “women’s issues.”
The fifth Republican presidential debate of the 2024 season will also be the fifth that Trump, the leading candidate in the field, will skip. The former president has cited his large polling lead over the rest of the Republican field as why he does not attend the debates, sparking the ire of his GOP competitors.
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“With only three candidates qualifying for the CNN debate, it’s time for Donald Trump to show up. As the debate stage continues to shrink, it’s getting harder for Donald Trump to hide,” Haley said last week.
DeSantis has also hit Trump for refusing to attend previous debates, saying in late December, “He’s not been willing to come here and answer questions.”
“He parachutes in for 30, 45-minute, hour speech and then just leaves, rather than listening to Iowans answering questions and doing, I think, what it takes to win,” the Florida governor added.