Focus group: Some Iowa GOP'ers would rather Clinton win than vote Trump
The idea of Donald Trump as president so repulses some Iowa Republicans that they would rather see Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton take the White House than vote for Trump. That's according to the latest focus group led by GOP strategist Frank Luntz, conducted in Des Moines less than a month before the Iowa caucuses.
In the focus group held Friday, seven out of 27 voters told Luntz that though they disliked the former secretary of state, Trump is much worse, the Des Moines Register reported.
One man cited Trump's ever-shifting political principles as a reason for his aversion to the candidate.
"Hillary's not that big a deal" when compared to the current GOP front-runner's unpredictable political leanings, the participant said.
Others reported problems with Trump's "isolationist" streak, his friendliness toward the Clintons prior to the 2016 election cycle and a perceived inability to "put a good face on" the GOP. There were even questions about whether Trump truly wanted to be president or if he was just in the race for the attention.
The two-hour session, sponsored by Google, had the longtime GOP operative scratching his head.
"That segment blew my mind," Luntz said, according to the Register. "They're so afraid of what he would do as president that they're willing to see her elected president."
Polling reflects Trump's lagging popularity in the early contest state, where he trails behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in recent surveys. In a Fox News poll published Saturday, nearly a third of likely Iowa caucus goers said they could never get behind Trump.
The billionaire businessman has had no qualms in flaunting the results out of Iowa.
At an Ottumwa rally Saturday, Trump said of the state: "Iowa, you have not been so good at picking the winners. You have got to pick the winners this time."