Poll: Nearly half of Haley’s Iowa backers say they’ll vote for Biden over Trump

DES MOINES, Iowa — Most likely Republican Iowa caucusgoers say they’ll vote for former President Donald Trump in the general election if he’s the GOP nominee, regardless of the candidate they’re supporting on caucus night.

That is, except supporters of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, with nearly half of them — 43% — saying they’d vote for Democratic President Joe Biden over Trump.

These new findings from the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa further illustrate the degree to which Haley is bringing in support from independents, Democrats and Republicans who have been uneasy with Trump’s takeover of the GOP. Fully half of her Iowa caucus supporters are independents or crossover Democrats, according to the survey results. Overall, Haley took 20% for second place in the survey, compared to 48% for Trump.

The poll also shows three-quarters of caucusgoers believing Trump can defeat Biden despite the former president’s legal challenges. But again, a majority of Haley’s supporters think it will be nearly impossible for Trump to win.

“I am more officially a Democrat who used to be a Republican and have kind of switched over, and basically I’m wanting to caucus in Iowa for the least of the worst,” said 37-year-old poll respondent Chelsea Cheney of Linn County.

“And in looking through all of them, I think that’s Nikki Haley,” Cheney added. “I don’t necessarily love her, but I don’t find her dangerous in ways that I find many of the other candidates dangerous.”

Pollster J. Ann Selzer, who has been conducting this Iowa survey over the last three decades, said, “Haley is consolidating the anti-Trump vote. She does well with the people who define themselves as anti-Trump.”

And while that vote isn’t big