TRUMP ON FIRE: Dominating headlines, rocketing up in polls
A pair of developments demonstrated this in vivid detail on Wednesday.
First, a new CNN poll has Trump rocketing up to 12% among GOP voters nationally, putting him behind only former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R). Second, Macy's announced it will stop selling Trump's products, becoming the latest in a line of businesses to cut ties with him since his campaign launch.
What's stunning about the poll is that Trump was only at 3% when CNN last surveyed voters in May. And his support, along with Bush's, appears to have exacted a toll on other contenders: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) both saw their percentages tumble to just 6%:
And though polls have shown Trump is unpopular among the broader Republican electorate - suggesting his support has a relatively low ceiling - he has managed to dominate headlines about the 2016 race since his June 16 campaign launch.
Among other things, Trump has been locked into high-profile feuds with a wide range of companies and people. Macy's is just the latest business to announce that it is cutting ties with Trump because he called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and drug runners while kicking off his campaign. Over the past week, NBC, Univision, and the Mexican media company Televisa have all dropped Trump's Miss Universe Organization beauty pageants, as well.
With his trademark bravado, Trump has aggressively responded to these actions. He said he is suing Univision for $500 million. He denounced NBC as "weak." And he insisted he was the one cutting ties with Macy's - not the other way around.
"I have never been happy about the fact that the ties and shirts are made in China," Trump said in a statement blasting the retail company. "Clearly, NBC and Macy's support illegal immigration, which is totally detrimental to the fabric of our once great country."
It's too early to see how Trump's dust-ups with NBC and Macy's will affect his support. However, there's a long history of Republican campaigns benefiting from perceived attacks by the liberal media - especially among conservative primary voters.