Poll: Trump leads Cruz by 19 points

Donald Trump has recaptured the lead in the latest CBS News/New York Times poll of GOP voters nationwide, which finds Ben Carson falling to third place.

Carson had led the survey in October but now falls to 13 percent support, according to results released Thursday.

{mosads}Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is now Trump’s closest competition among GOP primary voters. Trump leads the Republican pack with 35 percent voter support, nearly 20 points ahead of Cruz’s 16 percent.

The results mark Trump’s highest voter support in the poll so far, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is at his lowest, in fifth place with just 3 percent, behind Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who commands 9 percent.

Most of the poll’s sampling concluded before Trump’s controversial call late Monday for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S.

Trump nonetheless earns high enthusiasm among Republican primary voters, with 66 percent stating they have excitement or optimism about a potential Trump presidency. About 51 percent of Trump’s supporters say they are certain of their pick, compared to just a quarter of those who back someone else.

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina nabs 1 percent in the poll.

Among voters across the political spectrum, nearly two-thirds say they are concerned or frightened by the idea of a Trump presidency.

CBS News and The New York Times conducted their latest sampling of 431 Republican primary voters Dec. 4–8. It has a 6 percent margin of error.

Trump is facing significant backlash from his fellow Republicans for suggesting a pause on the Islamic faithful entering America earlier this week.