Why Donald Trump's Supporters Are Sticking Around
— -- It’s been one month exactly since an ABC News/Washington Post poll found Trump with a wide, double-digit lead, with 24 percent support for the Republican nomination.
Fast forward to now, Trump isn’t seeing a slump in support at all. The most recent national poll from CNN/ORC shows Trump with 24 percent support again among registered Republican voters.
In the past 30 days, Trump participated in the GOP presidential debate, gave kids a ride on his private helicopter at the Iowa State Fair and released his immigration plan. And his lead in the polls is as strong as ever.
ABC News reached out again to the same voters who told ABC News why they support Trump in interviews last month following their participation in the ABC News/Washington Post poll. Here’s what they told us:
Support for Trump Has Only Grown Stronger
All six -- Democrats, Republicans and Independents -- told ABC News they are still committed to Trump and if anything that commitment has been reinforced over the past month.
“Still Trump. He’s still the only one,” said Patricia Gregory, an 81-year-old Democrat from Florida, who is paying attention only to Trump out of all the candidates in the 2016 race.
“It’s gotten strong. Every time he opens his mouth it gets stronger,” Gregory said.
Independent voter Anthony DiMario said that he also is still supporting Trump and that’s because Trump doesn’t have a political background.
“Trump is an enigma. He tends to upset people,” said DiMario, 62. “He says what he wants to say. He likes the shock appeal, the Howard Stern approach.”
Mixed Reviews of GOP Debate Performance
Some of that “shock appeal” was on display during FOX News’ first Republican presidential debate of the election cycle on Aug. 6. One memorable moment of the night came when FOX News debate moderator Megyn Kelly asked Trump about his comments he’s made about women he doesn’t like and whether his words sound like “the temperament of a man we should elect as president.”
“I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. I don't frankly have time for total political correctness. Frankly, what I say -- and oftentimes it's fun, kidding, we have a good time -- what I say is what I say," Trump responded.
The voters had mixed reviews of Trump’s handling of the question.
Brittany Clemenps, 20, a college student from Pennsylvania, found Trump’s comments to be offensive.
“He just has to be careful in what he says. He has good points if he says things not to hurt people,” Clemenps explained. “For me, I guess I understand that he said that Megyn’s comments were off-base, but his comments are going to affect him long-run.”
“I think he did pretty good, other than the Megyn Kelly deal. In my opinion, I think Fox set him up,” Republican voter James Hollingsworth said.
Others thought Kelly was out of line and tried unsuccessfully to make Trump look bad.
“She should have never asked him that. It has nothing to do with being a presidential candidate,” argued David Runious, 47.
A Potential Third-Party Run Is a Problem
Donald Trump was the only candidate on the GOP debate stage that night to refuse pledging support for the eventual Republican presidential nominee -- unless it’s him.
“The only thing that concerns me is if [Trump] goes independent,” said Runious, a Louisiana auto repairman and Republican voter.
Runious went on to argue that “it wouldn’t be a good thing if he went independent, because that’s going to split the vote and then the Democrats are going to [win the presidency].”
While Anthony DiMario also agreed that if Trump was to run as an independent he would pull away votes from the GOP, DiMario maintained that Trump is within his rights.
“If Trump ran as an independent he would pull votes away but he has the right to do it,” DiMario said. “The Republicans are saying, ‘I’ll sign the pledge, why not you?’ He’s thinking, I’m not going back to a politics job like you are if I don’t get the nomination.”
But DiMario doesn’t believe that Trump will have to resort to a third-party run.
Still Doubt That He’ll Be the GOP Nominee
That confidence is not shared by all. Some question if Trump stands a chance at winning the Republican Party’s nomination though they support him.
“No, I don’t think so,” Brittany Clemenps said, but also said she’d consider voting for Trump as an independent candidate.
“I can’t tell you one way or another,” Darwin Fortney said, but assured he knew of a lot of people that are going to vote for the Donald.
“There’s 18 of us in the family. Everybody’s going to vote for him,” Fortney promised.
Concerns of Voters
“If he doesn’t make a major mess up he’s got my vote,” Hollingsworth said. What qualifies as a “major mess up” for Hollingsworth?
“Like dropping a bomb on somebody,” Hollingsworth said.
Brittany Clemenps said her concern was Trump’s temper: “Things can get out of hand if he gets fired up too quickly.”
Either way if Trump was to win the nomination and then the presidency, DiMario isn’t optimistic that a Donald Trump administration will be effective.
“Do I think he would be effective if he was president? No, I don’t,” DiMario said. “The past six years and another year and a half to go of President Obama. You can put Jesus Christ in this seat and nothing will turn around in this lifetime. Too much damage has been done around the world because of the administration that’s currently there. That’s why Trump is gaining the popularity.”
ABC News' Ryan Struyk contributed to this report.
