Trump takes commanding lead in Iowa polls ahead of January caucuses

Despite early predictions that former President Donald Trump would have a difficult time with his 2024 presidential campaign given his mountain of legal issues, Trump continues to dominate.

According to Breitbart, the 45th president is smashing his GOP rivals in the critical early-voting state of Iowa.

With the Iowa caucuses less than a month out, Trump has approached nearly 60% support in the key voting state, which often sets the momentum for candidates as they progress into other state's elections.

A CBS News/YouGov poll showed Trump trouncing his nearest opponents.

Now, there's 28 days until the Iowa Caucus vote on January 15. Less than a month! The latest poll from CBS news/You-Gov shows Former President Trump with 58% of likely Iowa Republican Caucus-goers.

— Robert Bradley Jones 🇺🇸 (@RobertBradleyJ2) December 19, 2023

Breitbart noted:

The poll, published on Sunday, shows Trump with 58 percent of backing among likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers if the contest were held today, placing him 36 points ahead of his nearest competitor, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), at 22 percent.

Coming in third place was former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), who garnered 13% support. Though she's had several recent bumps in polling numbers, she's still struggling to overcome DeSantis in several states.

Rounding out the top five was entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who only pulled in 3% support. Once seen as an up-and-comer, several dismal debate performances, in the eyes of many, have seemingly coincided with his decline in support and inability to get to the next level.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has spent most of his campaign attacking Trump and offering little to nothing in the way of ideas on how to get America back on track, only managed to snag 3% support as well.

According to NBC News, in a similar poll out of Iowa last week, Trump was shown leading the pack of GOP candidates, hauling in roughly 50% support.

The former president also managed to set a record, scoring the highest number in the poll's history.

NBC News noted:

Trump’s lead — the largest recorded so close to a competitive Republican caucus in this Iowa poll’s history — is fueled by majorities of evangelical and first-time likely caucusgoers, as well as by nearly three-quarters of Republicans who believe Trump can defeat President Joe Biden next year despite the legal challenges the former president faces.

Pollster J. Ann Selzer, who has conducted the poll for nearly three decades, made it clear that Trump is absolutely dominating the field.

"The field may have shrunk, but it may have made Donald Trump even stronger. I would call his lead commanding at this point," Selzer said.