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Trump leads the Texas senator by 19 points

The real estate mogul leads the Republican primary with the support of 36% of Republicans

Washington CNN  — 

Donald Trump continues to dominate the field in the latest national poll – and his attacks on Sen. Ted Cruz’s eligibility to be president seem to have some legs.

A Monmouth University poll released Wednesday finds the real-estate mogul leading the Republican primary with 36% support among Republican voters, a 19-point edge over the Texas senator, who is second at 17%. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 11%, and all other candidates are in single digits.

The poll also asked voters if they believe Cruz, who was born in Canada to an American mother, is a natural-born citizen and thus eligible for the presidency. While two-thirds said he was, 12% said he was not and 24% weren’t sure.

Monmouth asked the same of Trump for comparison, and found that 91% of Republicans said he’s a natural-born citizen, 2% said he’s not and 7% weren’t sure.

President Barack Obama has also faced steady skepticism about his U.S. citizenship despite the fact that he was born in Hawaii. In a 2014 Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, 19% of Americans said Obama was definitely or probably not a legal U.S. citizen.

For its poll, Monmouth surveyed 1,003 adults by telephone from January 15 to 18, including 385 Republican voters. The Republican sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Polls have continually shown Trump leading the field since this summer, though Cruz has drawn neck-and-neck with the billionaire businessman in Iowa.