President Donald Trump is continuing to record “horrendous” polling numbers on the key voter issue of healthcare, CNN’s data guru has found.
Harry Enten, the network’s senior data chief, examined three surveys that paint a devastating portrait of Trump and the GOP as the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits are set to expire.
First, Enten noted the results of Thursday’s AP-NORC poll 29 percent approval rating on healthcare among Americans, with a whopping 69 percent disapproving.
“Disapprove more than double, 69 percent—40 points higher than the approval. That is gosh darn awful, it’s horrendous,” Enten said. “And when you look at Republicans, even 39 percent of Republicans say they disapprove.”
“When we’re talking about two-fifths of the Republican base saying they disapprove of Donald Trump on a particular issue, you know that the American people are against him,” Enten added. “And I should point this out: 29 percent is no outlier. I was looking at the Fox News poll—that was sub–35 percent as well. The bottom line is, Americans very much dislike Donald Trump on healthcare.”
The issue of Obamacare subsidies expiring—which would send healthcare costs skyrocketing for tens of millions of Americans—was a central factor in the record-breaking government shutdown.
The 43-day shutdown eventually ended after multiple Democrats caved and backed a funding deal on the condition that a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies might take place. The subsidies are now likely to expire after the Senate rejected both GOP and Democratic bills that would have extended them.
Enten noted that a November Marquette Law School poll found a vast majority of Americans (70 percent) want the ACA subsidies extended, compared with just 30 percent who want them to expire.
“Again, we’re talking double—more than double—on the extend side versus the let-expire side. Even 45 percent of Republicans say they should be extended again,” Enten said. “We’re talking about an issue that unites Democrats and cracks the Republican base right down the middle. This is just awful politics for Republicans.”
Finally, Enten analyzed a KFF poll from last month showing that if the healthcare subsidies expire, a large majority of Americans (63 percent) will blame Trump or the GOP, compared to just 19 percent who would blame Democrats.
“The polling is rarely ever this clear, but on this issue, it is very much clear,” Enten said. “This is an issue that hurts Republicans and very much helps Democrats.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
