President Donald Trump called in federal agents to help crack down on crime in Washington, D.C., but CNN's Harry Enten said new polling explains the real reason he has taken the extraordinary step.
The president called in the National Guard to help with law enforcement in the nation's capital after a DOGE staffer was carjacked and beaten, and even though violent crime has declined in Washington over the last two years. Enten said that Trump was cracking down because that was still one issue where he enjoys public support.
"I think that Democrats have to get it around their heads that Americans are far more hawkish on crime than they think that they are," Enten said. "What are we talking about? Trump's net approval, handling crime, where was he last year? He was way underwater at minus-13 points, views of term Number One. But look at where he is now. He's on the positive side of the ledger, he's on the positive side at plus-one point. Americans view Trump far more favorably now on crime than they did a year ago, and while this polling doesn't take into account what's exactly happening in D.C. right now, it does take into account what happened in Los Angeles, what's happened earlier this year, and Americans, for the most part, actually view Trump favorably."
"Crime is one of Trump's best issues," he added. "It's one of the reasons why he wants to talk about crime, because it favors him."
Trump has blamed crime in Washington, D.C., on his predecessor Joe Biden, and Enten said polling shows the public generally agrees.
"I think this sort of gives the game away here because Donald Trump is like 'Air Jordan' towering over Joe Biden when it comes to their handling of crime," Enten said. "Look, in 2024, look where Biden's net approval was on crime – way underwater. They're at minus-26 points. It was one of Biden's worst issues. Granted, pretty much every issue was one of Biden's worst issues, and again, look at where Donald Trump is: way, way, way above Joe Biden. What is that? That's 27 points, so Americans vastly prefer Donald Trump's approach to crime than they did to Joe Biden's, and again, I think it gets back to the point that Americans are far more hawkish on crime than a lot of Democrats want to admit."
Watch the clip below or at this link.