A majority of Republican voters say they would trust GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump to lead their party over House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, according to a new poll released on Tuesday — an apparent rebuke of the prominent Republican over his ongoing rift with the New York businessman.

Nearly two-thirds — 63 percent — of Republican and Republican-leaning voters say they trust Trump more than Ryan to lead the GOP, while 34 percent put their trust in the speaker over the current presidential nominee, the NBC News/Survey Monkey poll found.

Among Trump supporters, a quarter of respondents said they would place their trust in Ryan to lead the party. Among Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson's supporters, 80 percent say they would trust Ryan more. And among respondents from all party affiliations, 60 percent of likely voters trust Ryan more than Trump to lead the Republican Party, while just 31 percent trust Trump over Ryan.

The results are an indicator of the effect the Trump candidacy and his rhetoric against the GOP establishment might have on the party beyond his White House run.

For several weeks, Trump has made Ryan a target in his campaign speeches and social media postings, hitting the Wisconsin Republican for, among other things, not assisting his White House efforts and being a "weak leader" after Ryan said he would no longer defend the party's nominee.

Last week, while campaigning in Ryan's home state of Wisconsin, Trump hinted in an interview that the House speaker may be hoping for his downfall because of his own 2020 presidential ambitions.

When asked by ABC News before a Monday night campaign event in Green Bay, Wisconsin, whether he thinks Ryan wanted him to win the presidency, Trump responded, "Well, maybe not, because maybe he wants to run in four years or maybe he doesn’t know how to win."

Last week, Fox News host and staunch Trump supporter Sean Hannity ratcheted up his attacks against Ryan, accusing the speaker and mainstream Republicans of "stabbing" Trump in the back and "sabotaging" his run for the White House.

During a segment with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, Hannity suggested that Ryan should be replaced as speaker of the House, saying, "I think in 23 days — win, lose or draw — we need a long conversation about whether or not he should be speaker of the House."

In recent national polling, Clinton leads head-to-head match-ups against Trump, with the Democrat holding 48.3 percent support compared to 43.2 percent for the New York businessman, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.

The NBC/Survey Monkey results are based on a sample of 32,225 likely voters surveyed from Oct. 17-23. The poll has an error estimate of 1 percentage point.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons

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