‘Disaster!’ CNN Data Ace Harry Enten Destroys Trump Claims About Approval Rating At 6 Months
President Donald Trump has been bragging about his “best numbers ever” but CNN senior data correspondent Harry Enten destroyed that claim as he declared Trump’s polls at 6 months into his term a “disaster!”
While Trump’s numbers with Republicans have ticked up within margin of error territory in the two weeks of Jeffrey Epstein coverage, the president claimed on Tuesday that “I have the best numbers I’ve ever had” as he contrasted the overall approval ratings for congressional Democrats.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) also recently claimed Trump had a “90 percent approval rating” without specifying Republicans (it was 88% among Republicans).
On Wednesday’s edition of CNN News Central, a characteristically animated Enten set the record straight on Trump’s polling at the 6-month mark in his second term — the lowest of any president at this point in history with the exception of Trump in his first term:
JOHN BERMAN: So, the president says things are great. What do the voters say?
HARRY ENTEN: No, I think is the answer. Six months in, the rules of political gravity absolutely apply to Donald Trump. And the USS Donald Trump is taking on a lot of water.
What are we talking about? Trump’s net approval rating. Look, he started off back in January plus six points on the net approval rating, minus three in March, minus seven in May, and now he’s at a term two low at minus 11 points. His net approval rating has dropped nearly 20 points. In the aggregate, since the beginning of his presidency, the American people do not like what they’re seeing. And Donald Trump’s administration is in a ton of trouble at this point in the minds of the American voters.
BERMAN: Well, on what issues do the American voters seem to disapprove of him?
ENTEN: They disapprove of him on all of the issues. He’s underwater on all the major issues of the day. Trump’s net approval rating on all the major issues, minus five points on immigration, his best issue he’s underwater. How about the economy? That was what he was elected for. Minus 14 points. How about foreign policy? Minus 14 points. How about trade in those tariff wars? Minus 15 points. And, of course, the Epstein case, the lowest of the bunch, minus 37 points, 37 points below water.
My goodness gracious, on every single issue, Donald Trump is below water on all the major ones. They’re all dragging him down, no matter, it seems, what Donald Trump does, the American people do not like it. And that is why, at this particular point, he’s at a term two low.
BERMAN: It’s interesting because this is the issue that may be on the top of many peoples’ minds as members of Congress head home for this extended summer recess.
ENTEN: And it’s his worst one.
BERMAN: I’m not sure that House members will be excited to see that number as they leave Washington today.
So, where does his overall approval rating stand compared to other presidents?
ENTEN: OK. I do have one piece of good news for Donald Trump, and that there is one other presidency that has a lower net approval rating at this point than this one. The bad news is that it was Donald Trump’s other presidency, his first presidency. Net approval rating six months in. The worst was in 2017. Donald Trump was 16 points underwater. The second worst, however, is this Donald Trump presidency, 11 points underwater. The average president at this point since 1953 has a plus 27 net approval rating.
John, do some quick math with me. It seems to me that Donald Trump is about 40 points lower than the average president at this particular point. He has the second worst net approval rating at this point. He is underwater on all the major issues of the day. The bottom line is, six months into this administration, I think that most Americans would apply the word or words “disaster,” “terrible,” “awful,” “horrible.” I think that is the way that the American people would see it at this particular point. He is so far below underwater compared to the average president. The only one he beats out is him in term number one. And I don’t think that’s exactly the metric he wants to be applying to himself.
BERMAN: Interesting to see which direction it will go next.
Watch above via CNN News Central.
