‘Higher Than They’ve Ever Been’: CNN’s Scott Jennings Backs Trump Up on Record Approval Ratings Claim

CNN Senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings on Sunday said that, despite a lot of doomsaying for President Donald Trump over his approval numbers in a new CNN poll, the fact is that among his base voters his numbers are “higher than they’ve ever been.”

Jennings spoke with anchor Jessica Dean and Democratic Strategist Chuck Rocha on Sunday’s CNN Newsroom about Trump’s approval dip on deportations and the border, and about the friction between his administration and many in the MAGA media over the Jeffrey Epstein case, which remained a top frustration for the president on Sunday.

Dean asked Rocha first about that friction, and the Democrat pointed out that midterm elections “are about motivation” in the base, which he said is with Democrats but not with Republicans.”

“This is not good for motivation for their base,” he said. “You add onto this giving weapons to Ukraine, which I support, but their base does not, and other things that they feel disappointed in with our own CNN polling, then you start seeing cracks in the fissure for motivation for a midterm.

Jennings agreed that the relative motivation of base voters is the key to midterms, but argued that it still favors Republicans.

“The base is with Donald Trump. In fact, it is true, his numbers among Republicans continue to rise,” the Republican commentator said. “They couldn’t go up much higher because they’re so good already. But the base is with Trump. Regardless of whatever is roiling or, you know, boiling in the political seas out there, you can’t deny his numbers among his voters, his Republican voters, are higher than they’ve ever been.”

Democrats have cited a lack of base motivation among the reasons for their poor turnout in 2024, and at the beginning of the year there were concerns about how that could turn around before the midterms. Recent polling has continued to show bad news for Democrats ahead of next year’s midterms right now, with a record-low approval for Congressional Democrats — 19% — in a new poll out just days ago.

Trump on Sunday also touted his approval rating among Republicans, which despite the Epstein story is in fact continuing to rise.

DEAN: Chuck, we have this new CNN poll that was out this week that half of Americans are not satisfied with the amount of information the federal government released on the Epstein case. What do you think about this whole, kind of where we are? I mean, as Scott notes, you have the MAGA base, who has been promised, frankly, by a lot of people very close to the president for a lot transparency on this, including Kash Patel and Pam Bondi. And then you have Democrats who are also starting to jump on this as well.

ROCHA: This is a classic, the dog who finally caught the car, because that’s all the Republicans – not all about Trump. He’s talked about it some, but their entire base has been fixated on this. And I know we’re going to talk about the midterm elections. I know, we’re gonna talk about issues and the latest CNN polling. But let me tell you something as an election expert, is that the midterms are about motivation. Every midterm election, I’ve been doing this for 30 some years, I’m trying to figure out how to motivate Democrats and Republicans are trying to figuring out how to motivate Democrats. This is not good for motivation for their base. You add onto this giving weapons to Ukraine, which I support, but their base does not, and other things that they feel disappointed in with our own CNN polling, then you start seeing cracks in the fissure for motivation for a midterm.

DEAN: Okay, we are going to get to midterms, but Scott, I know you want to answer to that, so go ahead.

JENNINGS: Yeah, look, I agree with the part of what Chuck said. Midterms are about base motivation. He’s completely right about that. And right now, Democrats and Republicans have sort of flipped in terms of who’s got the more committed voters or frequent voters, I should say. But in terms what the base is doing with Donald Trump right now: They support him on Iran. It’s not true, they do support him on Ukraine, because what he’s done is he’s put NATO in the middle of this, and it’s not U.S. tax dollars. It’s European countries. The base is with Donald Trump. In fact, it is true, his numbers among Republicans continue to rise. They couldn’t go up much higher because they’re so good already. But the base is with Trump. Regardless of whatever is roiling or, you know, boiling in the political seas out there, you can’t deny his numbers among his voters, his Republican voters, are higher than they’ve ever been.

Watch the clip above via CNN.