Fox News poll: GOP agrees with Trump

A strong majority of Republican primary voters in a new Fox News poll agree with Donald Trump’s opinions on immigration.

Trump’s been in hot water for saying last month that undocumented Mexican immigrants — some of them “rapists” — are bringing drugs and crime across the border. But when asked to set aside Trump’s wording, 70 percent of Republican primary voters believe his message is “basically right.”

{mosads}In more good news for the 2016 candidate, who leads the entire Republican field in that same poll, 59 percent of GOP primary voters said they admire his “guts,” compared to just 28 percent who dismiss him as a “loudmouth.”

Still, the figures show a softening on immigration stances on both sides of the aisle, with 64 percent of registered voters supporting a pathway for illegal immigrants to gain legal status. Support for the pathway has risen 21 percentage points among Democrats, 11 percentage points with independents and 8 points among Republicans.

A plurality of Republicans, at 48 percent, support a pathway to legal residency. Almost 80 percent of Democrats back that plan.

The poll also delves into Americans’ views on the Benghazi investigations that have centered on former Secretary of State and current Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s response to the tragic attack that killed four Americans.

While a plurality of voters, 49 percent, want Congress to halt its investigation and move on, that figure emerges from a deep partisan split. Almost three-quarters of Democrats want Congress to quit its investigation, while the same number of Republicans want lawmakers to press on.