US Edition 
Donald Trump's support among Republicans has dropped 12 points in less than a week
New poll shows candidate's backing sharply down after series of rabble-rousing statements - but he still has double-digit lead over nearest challenger
Public support for Donald Trump has nose-dived by 12 points in less than a week after the Republican frontrunner sparked controversy with a spate of provocative statements., according to a new opinion poll.
The billionaire property mogul's standing among Republican voters plunged from 43 to 31 per cent over five days till Friday, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survery, suggesting that his fiercely populist ploy of singling out Muslims while vowing to defeat terrorists may have backfired.
The decline, tracked in a rolling poll taken this week, followed a series of outbursts in which Mr Trump appeared to deliberately court criticism with assertions that became steadily more outrageous. Nevertheless, the same survey gives Mr Trump one of his most biggest leads so far - 16 points - which is what the candidate is likely to focus on.
This is because Mr Trump's slide has been matched by a drop in support for Ben Carson, his closest challenger in the packed Republican field. Dr Carson, a retired neuro-surgeon trails the frontrunner by 15 per cent, having been just six points behind at the end of October.
Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida, is tied in third place with eight per cent along with Ted Cruz, a Texas senator. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and preferred establishment candidate, is fifth with seven per cent.
Mr Trump drew condemnation from the New York Times - America's most influential newspaper - after seeming to mock the speech and movements of one of its reporters, Serge Kovaleski for being disabled.
Rather than damp down the row by apologising, Mr Trump denied that he had been ridiculing the journalist and accused him of "grandstanding".
He had earlier cited an article written by Mr Kovaleski to justify his repeated claims that "thousands" of Muslims in New Jersey had celebrated the 9/11 attacks on New York's World Trade Centre in 2001. Mr Kovaleski denied writing such a thing, while the authorities have emphatically said there is no evidence it ever happened.
Mr Trump has made several other incendiary remarks while attempting to captialise on the renewed fear of terrorism following the November 13 attacks on Paris by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isil).
He indicated support for a database of Muslims, drawing criticisms that it was reminiscent of the mandatory registration of Jews in Nazi Germany before the Second World War. He has also proposed increased surveillance on, and even closure of, some mosques.
Mr Trump triggered widespread mockery when he told a rally in Ohio that he personally witnessed people jumping from the World Trade Centre on 9/11after Al Qaeda terrorists flew two aircraft as he watched from his flat - even though it was four miles away.
Equally bizarrely, he told an audience in South Carolina that he was able to predict terrorism because he could "feel" it - and boasted that he forecast the rise of Osama Bin Laden, the late al-Qaeda leader, a year before 9/11.
Last weekend he declared that if elected, he would bring back waterboarding - the controversial interrogation technique that simulates drowning but which has been scrapped by President Barack Obama after monitoring agencies said it amounted to torture. Dr Carson, who has also made widely-criticised remarks about Muslims and compared Syrian refugees to "rabid dogs" has likewise pledged to restore the practice.