In the wake of heavy criticism from his party over remarks about Muslims, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump warned them he would be more than happy to run as an independent candidate.
After 24 hours of withering criticism from the likes of Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and virtually every fellow GOP presidential hopeful — not to mention Democrats and the mayors of Philadelphia and London — Trump is defiantly standing by his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. And he upped the ante by tweeting a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll that shows 68% of the 2016 Republican front-runner's supporters would ditch the GOP and stick with him if he launched an independent campaign for the presidency.
Such a run would split the right-wing vote and markedly increase the likelihood of an easy Democrat victory in next year's general election. Trump has signed a pledge not to run as an independent, but no-one took it seriously.
A new poll indicates that 68% of my supporters would vote for me if I departed the GOP & ran as an independent. https://t.co/ztP5d2ctZl
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2015
His Republican rivals are becoming exasperated:
Maybe Donald negotiated a deal with his buddy @HillaryClinton. Continuing this path will put her in the White House. https://t.co/AlvByiSrMn
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) December 8, 2015
