CNN data analyst Harry Enten says President Donald Trump is now in a league of his own when it comes to sinking approval ratings.
Citing an average of recent surveys from AP-NORC, NBC News, Yahoo-YouGov, and Quinnipiac, Enten noted that Trump’s net approval rating now stands at -22. By comparison, Joe Biden was at -13 in February 2022, while Trump sat at -12 during the same point in his first term.
“Look at this, I got four numbers across for you on this screen here. They are all second-term lows for the given pollster. What are we talking about? AP-NORC, 26 points below water. NBC, 22 points below water. Yahoo-YouGov, 20 points below the water. Quinnipiac, 19 points below water. So we’re ranging from -19 points, all the way to -26 points,” Enten said.
He said people keep asking, “Where is the floor for Donald Trump?”
“And I’m not sure there is a floor, because if there is one, Donald Trump, at least in term No. 2, has just fallen through it to another low level!”
He added: “The bottom line is this: Donald Trump is setting new records for himself in term No. 2, setting new records for himself compared to where he was at this time in term No. 1. And he is doing worse than Biden, which is of course a comparison that Donald Trump does not want to be because we all know what happened to Joe Biden,” noted Enten.
Pressed by anchor Kate Bolduan on what’s driving the decline, Enten pointed squarely at independent voters.
In February 2018, during his first term, Trump’s net approval among independents was -17, according to Quinnipiac. Now, that figure stands at -27.
“Well, we’re talking about independents, we’re talking about independents. When you lose the center of the electorate, you lose the American people. Trump’s net approval rating among independents, you know, at this point, you go back, term number one, he was 17 points below water. Now, according to Quinnipiac, he is 27 points below water.
“I don’t understand how this works out well for the president of the United States. When you are 27 points below water, underwater, with the center of the electorate, with independents, you lose, your party loses,” he said. “At this point, I don’t really know who to even compare Donald Trump to because he’s just so low, and he’s so low with the center of the electorate,” Enten said.
Polls have shown Trump’s ratings tanking in recent weeks amid controversy over the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policy, and pessimism about the economy.
Multiple polls have shown growing support for abolishing ICE, while Enten said earlier this month that a stark 55 percent of Americans believe the economy has worsened under Trump.
Meanwhile, polls have shown Trump losing support among key voter groups that propelled him into the White House in 2024 like young men, Hispanics, and non-college educated Americans.
“If you know anything about Donald Trump, you know that he built his two presidential victories on winning voters without a college degree,” Enten said. “Well, Donald Trump’s base with non-college voters is absolutely collapsing.”
A trio of surverys also found last week that Americans think Biden did a better job in the White House than Trump has so far.
