By Yousef Al-Tatan
WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (KUNA) -- Billionaire candidate Donald Trump continues to enjoy high ratings from Republican voters despite his controversial and contradictory statements on US foreign policy.
Recent polls showed Trump maintaining a steady significant lead with ratings ranging between 30 to 40 percent followed by Ben Carson with 18 percent.
Trump's media assault on his rival Jeb Bush appear to be affecting Bush's ratings, as he has slipped from 15 percent support in July to only eight percent this week.
The Republic frontrunner Trump has propelled himself to the top of the polls by casting himself as an anti-establishment, outsider candidate, railing against career politicians and the Washington political class as opinion polls showed that the majority of Americans prefer a candidate with no links to current or previous governments.
Trump's arrogant approach and harsh scathing of his critics, rivals and even media people have attracted extensive media coverage to his electioneering campaigns and speeches.
Moreover, he has a long history of self-contradictory political stances, especially those related to the US foreign policy mainly the US policies towards the Middle East and the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
In a recent speech he described his rivals as "a bunch of losers, we have a bunch of political hacks." He has contradictory stances of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, he attacked former President George W. Bush for taking such a decision and also criticized President Barack Obama for withdrawing the US troops from Iraq.
Fearing that Trump could run the election as an independent or a candidate for another party if he failed to secure his party nomination nod, the Republican National Committee asked all nominees to sign a loyalty pledge.
On Thursday, the Committee Chairman Reince Priebus declared that Trump and other 16 candidates have signed the pledge.
This means that Trump has promised to support the party's eventual nominee -- whoever that may be -- and that he will not run as a third-party candidate. (end) yt.ibi