President Donald Trump has nothing but love for a cable network star who regularly scorches his “absolutely terrible” polling numbers on national television.
Trump lavished praise on CNN’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, on Tuesday, largely because he previously reported on a poll that found the president enjoys a 100-percent approval rating—among MAGA Republicans.
In a truly surreal press conference set against the noisy construction site of his White House ballroom, the 79-year-old president got asked a softball question about the loyalty of his MAGA base.
“Mr. President, why is the establishment media claiming so desperately that MAGA is divided?” one reporter asked.
“Well, I think it’s the strongest it’s ever been,” Trump began, citing his Republican foe Bill Cassidy’s failed re-election bid in Louisiana. “I think MAGA’s never been more together, actually.”
Trump proceeded to launch into a rave review of Enten, who has described the president’s dismal polling numbers as “downright atrocious” and some of “the ugliest numbers” he has ever seen.
“I mean, I appreciate the question because even CNN, they did a poll two, three weeks ago. They said Trump is at 100 percent,” he said. “That’s Harry Enten. I like Harry Enten. You know, he’s got a lot of energy. I like him. But he did a poll and he’s a good pro. And he gives the good and the bad, but I think he’s an honorable guy. He did a lot of good.”
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump was likely referring to a March segment where Enten reported on an NBC News poll that found the president’s MAGA base is still solidly behind him, even though many Republicans who don’t identify as MAGA loyalists are not.
“You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to know you can’t go higher than 100 percent,” Enten said at the time. “The bottom line is this: if you are a member of MAGA, you approve of Donald Trump.”
Trump was clearly tickled by the report, bragging in March that it was “an honor.”
But Enten swiftly provided the president with a reality check later that month, showing that Trump has actually “never been more unpopular.”
“President Trump is quite popular with MAGA,” Enten said. “They very much love the president. But of course, they are just a certain portion of the electorate. When you expand it out, the reality check is this: Donald Trump has never been more unpopular in his second term in office.”
On Monday, popular pollster Nate Silver reported that Trump has become more unpopular than at any point during his first term, including after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Polling averages compiled by Silver found that Trump’s disapproval rating has risen to 58.6 percent.
But Trump seems uninterested in his polling numbers outside of MAGAworld.
“MAGA is most of the Republican Party. The RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) are gone to a large extent,” he said on Tuesday.
