Though Donald Trump’s favorables have hit an all-time high, they’re significantly lower than the past three Republican nominees. | Getty Poll: Trump's favorability grows among Republicans

Donald Trump’s favorability among Republicans has hit its highest point since Gallup began tracking him last August, but it lags behind the most recent GOP presidential nominees, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.

The real estate mogul’s favorability among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents is at 66 percent. Trump’s negatives peaked at 42 percent in early March but have dropped 12 points since to its lowest point in the last nine months.


Though Trump’s favorables have hit an all-time high, they’re significantly lower than the past three Republican nominees: Mitt Romney in 2012, John McCain in 2008 and George W. Bush in 2000.

The past three nominees had favorables exceeding 80 percent with negatives hovering around 10 percent around May and June during their primary runs.

The billionaire’s primary, which featured 17 presidential candidates, lasted longer than McCain’s and Bush’s, though Romney wrapped up his nomination around the same time as Trump did.

Trump’s decisive victory in Indiana earlier this month knocked Ted Cruz and John Kasich out of the race, effectively handing him the party’s nomination. Republicans, however, are split on their views regarding having Trump as their nominee.

Half of the respondents wish someone else was the GOP nominee, while 48 percent are generally pleased with Trump’s nomination. Republicans who are younger than 55 or are liberal or moderate Republicans said they would prefer another candidate to win the nomination, while voters 55 and older are pleased with Trump’s position.

Despite his popularity with within his party, Trump’s favorability and unfavorability numbers are essentially flipped among the entire electorate, with six in 10 Americans seeing the New York businessman negatively and just about one-third viewing him positively. Democratic front-runner and likely nominee Hillary Clinton’s numbers aren’t much better, though.

The survey of 1,555 Republicans and leaners was conducted May 11-17 via landline and cellphone. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. A second sample of 677 Republicans and leaners conducted May 13-15 has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.