Yes, you heard it right. The headlines aren’t headlines for no reason. Since July, Donald Trump has topped the polls—partially by being outspoken on numerous issues and calling out his competition by depicting them as weak. According to a September 15 NBC poll, Donald Trump has jumped from one percent support of GOP primary voters to 21 percent in only three months. How has this happened?

Polls first showed Trump leading in mid-July. What triggered his staggering lead was what most people thought would make him drop out of the running: his comments regarding immigration. “When Mexico sends us people, they’re not sending their best…they’re sending people who have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume are good people,” Trump claimed in a July 2 stump speech. His campaign website states that “For many years, Mexico’s leaders have been taking advantage of the United States by using illegal immigration to export the crime and poverty in their own country (as well as in other Latin American countries). They have even published pamphlets on how to illegally immigrate to the United States. The costs for the United States have been extraordinary: U.S. taxpayers have been asked to pick up hundreds of billions in healthcare costs, housing costs, education costs, welfare costs, etc. Indeed, the annual cost of free tax credits alone paid to illegal immigrants quadrupled to $4.2 billion in 2011. The effects on jobseekers have also been disastrous, and black Americans have been particularly harmed.” Trump also intends to enact tariffs to hurt companies that outsource jobs to foreign nations.

At press time, Trump’s biggest competition is famous neurosurgeon Ben Carson. At the time of publication, Carson is currently polling at 20 percent. The Republican candidate has also made his fair share of controversial opinions, most notably saying that he would not vote for a Muslim president. Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio are also gaining progress on Trump’s lead, each polling at eleven percent.

So what are the chances of the real-estate guru and reality TV star actually becoming president of the United States? They’re certainly greater than the chances of former New York Governor George Pataki and Louisiana Governor Piyush “Bobby” Jindal. But Trump has yet to develop concrete policy—foreign and domestic—which will certainly hurt him as we come closer to the primaries. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are two candidates with strong chances of winning the nomination and the presidency. But, it’s still too early to tell. Rick Perry and Scott Walker have already dropped out of the race, and others will likely follow. There’s a long wait until November of next year, when we will know the future leader of our nation. Whether you love politics or love to hate it, you have to admit – it sure is interesting to watch.