President Donald Trump's popularity has plummeted, and CNN's Harry Enten warned that he will drag down the Republican Party with him if things don't turn around soon.
Multiple polls have found the president is plunging in his favorability less than a year into his second term, and the network's chief data analyst put those numbers into perspective Monday morning for "CNN News Central."
"It's a disaster ifit holds towards the midtermelections, and I should note, ofcourse, it's not alone," Enten said. "I mean,just take a look here. This is Gallup, this is the longest-running poll. Gallup has beenconducting polls since my fatherwas a kid, and my father wasborn in 1927 – had me in the '60s.Look at this: In January, Donald Trump's approval rating nottoo bad, not too great. It wasat minus-one point, right withinthe margin of error [of] breakingeven. But look at this now: minus-24points – way, way down. We'retalking about a drop of over 20points in the wrong directionfor the president of the United States, minus-24 points. That's a 23-point move in the incorrectdirection if you're thepresident."
"Of course,what's so important here is it matches the trendthat we've seen with otherpolls," he added. "That is Donald Trumphitting his low for the secondterm. I was doing the count lastnight. I think we're up to 10polls in the last 40 days, 10different pollsters who havesaid that Trump is at the lowestpoint he is in his second term."
The only president with worse approval ratings at this point in their second term was Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace less than a year later during the Watergate scandal.
"He was at minus-36 points, Trump at minus-24 points," Enten said. "That beats or is worse, I shouldsay, beats in the wrongdirection. George W. Bush minus-19points. His Republican Party, ofcourse, suffered major losses inthe 2006 midterm elections.Dwight Eisenhower plus-31points, Donald Trump has neversmelt that at all. I had to gointo the archives to dig up thatphoto, and Ronald Reagan at plus-41 points, but again, it also isworse than Harry S. Truman. It'sworse than Lyndon Baines Johnson. It's worse than Barack Obama, it's worse than Bill Clinton."
"Anywhere you look, thisis the second-worst for apresident of either party atthis point in their second term,dating all the way back sincethe 1940s," Enten added.
The midterm elections are just under a year away, but Enten said there's a specific threshold Trump must meet to prevent the GOP from getting wiped out of their congressional majorities.
"Idecided to go back and look atthis point in a second term,what happened?" he said. "What was thetrendline heading into themidterm elections? Were thereany presidents who saw their netapproval ratings rise by morethan five points? Well, guesswhat, you go allthe way back since Harry S. Truman, zero out of eight timesthat the president's netapproval rating rose by overfive points, and, of course, Donald Trump right now in Gallup, minus-24 points, he's in the minus-teens according to the average."
"If he does not see a rise ofmore than five points, see youlater, that Republican majority," Enten added. "It has never happened. Ofcourse, we live in such a weirdtime in politics.We live in a weird time, buthe's going to have to breakhistory."
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