Trump hits new high among registered Republicans in NBC poll

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump now has the support of 40 percent of registered Republicans, gaining 4 points in an NBC News/Survey Monkey national weekly tracking poll to reach a new high just before voters go to the polls on Super Tuesday.

{mosads}Marco Rubio added 5 points following his performance in the latest Republican debate, putting him at 21 percent in the online poll, released early Tuesday morning.

Ted Cruz, who’s in third place, slipped 1 point, to 18 percent, his lowest level in the survey.

Ben Carson ranks fourth, with 8 percent, while John Kasich follows, with 7 percent.

Pollsters also found that the overwhelming majority of GOP voters believe Trump will win their party’s nomination.

About 71 percent predict Trump will become the Republican standard-bearer, up 15 points from a similar survey last week.

Rubio ranks second on that question, at 12 percent, while Cruz takes 10 percent, Carson 2 percent and Kasich 1 percent.

NBC News/Survey Monkey polled 8,759 registered Republican voters between Feb. 22 and 28. Their survey has a 1.8 percentage point margin of error.

Updated at 7:14 a.m.