Poll: Donald Trump's support in SC rises 8 percent after Muslim ban comments

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A pair of polls released Wednesday show billionaire Donald Trump maintaining his high level of support among South Carolina Republicans, but one of those polls show he gained support after his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

That poll, released by FOX News on Wednesday night, was taken in a 72-hour period of time when Trump made the comments calling for a ""total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

RELATED: See some of Donald Trump's other controversial quotes.

"It looks like his comments help him in South Carolina," the FOX News report said. "Support for Trump increased eight points after his statement -- from 30 percent the first two nights vs. 38 percent the last two nights. The shift is within the margin of sampling error."

Trump has 35 percent of total support in the poll with neurosurgeon Ben Carson receiving 15 percent of support and Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio receiving 14 percent of support each.

Meanwhile, the results of the latest Winthrop Poll shows Trump still in the lead among state Republicans with 24 percent of support -- 8 percent above Cruz, who is now in second place with 16 percent.

"Trump leads across multiple categories of voters from a high of 35 percent among those who wish to create a database of Muslims in the U.S. to a low of 22 percent among Evangelical Christians, who will make up nearly 60 percent of the S.C. GOP Presidential Primary electorate," poll director Dr. Scott Huffmon said in a statement.

Trump has not shied away from his comments -- in fact, he has doubled down on them -- despite widespread condemnation of them from fellow Republicans, Democrats, and others.

Fellow GOP presidential candidate and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham lambasted the comments, saying Trump was actually hurting US efforts abroad in its fight against ISIS.

"You know how you win this war?  You side with people in the faith that reject this ideology, which is 99 percent. And you know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell," Graham said.

RELATED: Watch Sen. Lindsey Graham's response to Donald Trump's comments.

The South Carolina Republican Primary is set for Feb. 20, 2016.

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