Poll: One in Five Republicans Want Donald Trump to Drop Out of Presidential Race

Nearly one-fifth of registered Republicans want GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump to drop out of the 2016 presidential race, a new poll finds, reflecting the deep divisions within the party over his candidacy.

Among registered Republicans polled, 19 percent think the New York businessman should end his bid for the White House, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll released early Wednesday. However, 70 percent of Republicans want Trump to continue, while 10 percent answered that they "don't know" what Trump should do. Among the broader electorate, 44 percent of registered voters say they want Trump to leave the race.

The poll was conducted as Trump suffered a barrage of attacks over his feuding with a Gold Star family, declaring that he "always wanted" a Purple Heart but that it's "easier" to receive one as a gift, admitting that there was no "secret" video of a U.S. plane carrying $400 million in cash to Iran, and initially declining to endorse Republican candidates including House Speaker Paul Ryan.

However, the poll came before Trump sparked the latest outrage from his campaign when he went off script during a rally in North Carolina on Tuesday afternoon, saying Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton would be able to appoint liberal justices to the Supreme Court if she wins the White House — and that guns rights activists could stop her.

"Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment," he said. "By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I'll tell you what, that will be a horrible day."

For the Reuters/Ipsos poll, Pollsters surveyed 396 registered Republicans and 1,162 registered voters between Aug. 5-8. The margin of error is 6 percentage points among Republicans and 3 percentage points for all voters.

In recent national polling, Clinton leads head-to-head match-ups against Trump, with the Democrat holding 48 percent support compared to 40.3 for the New York businessman, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.

[Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons]