Election 2016 Update: Dump Trump Movement Fueled By Polls Showing Trump Trailing Clinton, Sanders

UPDATE: 3:25 p.m. EDT — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump Saturday again denied he had anything to do with a National Enquirer story alleging rival Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas had a number of extramarital affairs. “I had nothing to do with the story!” Trump tweeted.

Original story:

Conservatives are revving up their Dump Trump campaign in the wake of polls indicating Republican front-runner Donald Trump would do poorly against his Democratic presidential rivals in the general election.

“Every piece of data shows that if Trump is the nominee, he will suffer a historic beat down in the general election,” Tim Miller, a Republican operative working for a group committed to stopping Trump, told the Hill. “He’s been running for president for a year now, and general election voters have already rendered their judgment.”

Trump has maintained he has increased the size of the Republican party, attracting voters outside the base. However, the real estate mogul’s support is narrow, and his strongest showings have been in the Deep South.

The problem with the Dump Trump movement is, his chief rival doesn’t do much better against Democrats Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, according to polling.

The RealClearPolitics average of national polls gives Clinton an 11-point edge over Trump. A Monmouth poll released Thursday indicates the former secretary of state would top Trump 48 percent to 38 percent, and against Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas she polls 45 percent to 40 percent but trails Ohio Gov. John Kasich 45 percent to 39 percent.

Polls released Wednesday had similar results. A Fox News poll gave Clinton a 49 percent to 38 percent lead over Trump, while Quinnipiac indicated she led 46 percent to 40 percent, and a Bloomberg poll widened her lead to 54 percent to 36 percent.

Against Cruz, Fox News indicated Clinton trailing 47 percent to 44 percent, but Quinnipiac and Bloomberg had her leading 45 percent to 42 percent and 51 percent to 42 percent, respectively. All three polls had Kasich topping Clinton: Fox, 51 percent to 40 percent; Quinnipiac, 47 percent to 39 percent; and Bloomberg, 51 percent to 43 percent.

The problem is that among Republicans, Kasich consistently trails Trump and Cruz.

When it comes to matchups against Sanders, the three Wednesday polls gave the Vermont senator, who is currently trailing Clinton in the delegate count, the edge on Trump and Cruz but losing to Kasich in the Fox and Quinnipiac polls by a point.

To complicate matters, Cruz on Friday indicated that come November, he might not support Trump should the Donald win the nomination.

“I don't make a habit out of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my family,” Cruz said during a campaign stop in Wisconsin.

The latest tiff between the candidates began when a nude picture of Trump’s wife, Melania, was posted on the internet, and Trump threatened to “spill the beans” about Cruz’s wife, Heidi, in retaliation. The “beans” wound up being that she supported the North American Free Trade Agreement.