It is not clear whether Donald Trump with eventually get the Republican Party's nomination or not. (Agence France-Presse photo)
Despite a series of controversial statements, Donald Trump is still leading US opinion polls, though for the first time, some polls show his lead shrinking.
According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll in the key state of New Hampshire, Trump's lead has come down from 16 to five points in one month. But another poll by the Pew Research Center says Trump clearly trumps at 25 per cent, with Ben Carson far behind at 16 per cent.
The lead exists, despite Trump calling Mexicans "rapists" and saying a woman anchor asked him tough questions because "she was menstruating."
We spoke to a cross section of voters in the United States for their views. One African American man told us, "Trump is an idiot but he is a billionaire and America is country based on capitalism. Something's he says I can understand, our country is under some trillion dollar debt... I think he is too bold. He is a different type of candidate."
Another Republican voter, when asked why he thought Trump was so popular, said "You've got 24x7 news coverage so they have to come up with something, so Donald Trump can do and say anything and boom he's on TV that minute."
"I like his aggressive style, see, our politicians, I am Republican but Republicans are really passive, they don't have a spine but Donald Trump, he has got a spine, so I'm kind of torn," he added.
Neera Tanden, Advisor to Hillary Clinton's campaign told NDTV, Trump had "coarsened the debate."
"The debate has gotten really petty. He's had vile remarks. What is upsetting is that usually candidates say outrageous things and the political process punishes then for those remarks. What's unfortunate is that he will make an outrageous comment and his numbers will go up and I think that's a sad commentary on the Republican Party," Tanden said.
It is not clear whether Donald Trump with eventually get the Republican Party's nomination or not, what is clear is that he has made this election campaign very colourful and certainly very controversial. Some say he has brought out the best and the worst in America.