Walker leads Trump in new Iowa poll

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker greets guests at The Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, on July 18. (Scott Olson, Getty Images)

A poll shows that before Donald Trump told Iowans

A Monmouth University poll taken July 16-19 put Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker strongly in the lead with the support of 22%. Trump fared the next best, trailing Walker by 9 points, according to a news release Monday.

On Saturday, the third day of the Monmouth poll, Trump told a mass gathering of religious conservatives that just because McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam it doesn’t make him a war hero.

“He’s not a war hero. He is a war hero because he was captured,” Trump, a real estate mogul turned reality TV star, said during his time on stage during the Family Leadership Summit in Ames. “I like people that weren’t captured, OK? I hate to tell you.”

Those comments triggered a firestorm, including criticism from some Iowa Republicans. Trump later sent out news releases defending himself as a staunch backer of veterans, but continued to rake McCain for failing to prevent illegal immigration and the “tremendous amounts of crime” it has caused, and for failing to improve “the horrible treatment that our veterans are receiving.”

On Sunday, the fourth day of polling, Monmouth “did not find any significant change in support for Trump,” the university’s news release says.

The news of the day can take time to seep into public opinion.

The Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, N.J. surveyed 452 Iowa voters likely to attend the Republican presidential caucuses. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6%.

Here are the full poll results:

Scott Walker: 22%

Donald Trump: 13%

Ben Carson: 8%

Jeb Bush: 7%

Ted Cruz: 7%

Mike Huckabee: 6%

Marco Rubio: 5%

Rand Paul: 5%

Bobby Jindal: 4%

Rick Santorum: 3%

Rick Perry: 3%

Carly Fiorina: 3%

John Kasich: 2%

Chris Christie: 1%

George Pataki: 1%

Lindsey Graham: less than 1%

Jacobs reports for The Des Moines Register