President Donald Trump’s “historically atrocious” polling among a crucial group of voters is making his first-term numbers look downright rosy, according to CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.
“These numbers are absolutely atrocious. They are historically atrocious for any president at this point in term number two,” Enten said.
The data guru pointed out that Trump, 80, is “more than twice as unpopular than he was at this point going into the first midterm election” in 2018, citing the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll finding just 33 percent of Americans approve of his job performance and 63 percent disapprove, with his net approval at -30 percent.
By comparison, Trump’s net approval rating stood at -14 points in September 2018, just two months before Democrats retook the House with a net gain of 40 seats.
According to Enten, the voters giving Trump’s polling the biggest whiplash are unaffiliated voters, who can flip from one side to the other between elections.
“It is independents, the name of the game,” he said.
Enten, who earned praise from Trump last month even as the president declared that CNN is in a “DEATH SPIRAL,” explained that while the president had a net approval rating of -18 points among independents in September 2018, that figure now stands at -50 points.
Invoking the GOP convention Trump is headlining in Dallas this week, Enten said, “These are the types of numbers that if you’re a Republican watching that convention, knowing that President Trump is this far underwater with independents, you are going to yourself, ‘What did I do to deserve this? Why? Why? Why? Why?’”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Enten identified Trump’s handling of the economy as a main thing dragging the president down, saying, “I don’t care what type of glasses you put on, because these numbers, when it comes to the economy, are absolutely terrible for the president of the United States, especially compared to where he was at this point in term number one.”
Trump held a +10 net approval rating on the economy among independents in September 2018. Today, that figure stands at -52, Enten pointed out.
“That is 62 points worse at this point among independents when it comes to the economy,” he calculated, before concluding, “The reason why Trump was elected to a second term was the economy, and now it is the great anchor that is bringing his presidency down, and it may very well bring down Republican hopes in the midterms as well.”
