CNN panel 'shocked' by New Hampshire exit polls showing red flags for Trump

Republicans moving to vote in the New Hampshire primary, where former President Donald Trump is hoping to knock off his remaining competition in former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, have strikingly moderate policy positions, according to exit polls — and it left a CNN panel stunned.

In particular, they argued, these numbers could be an ominous sign for Trump's chances in a general election — even if he pulls through in New Hampshire tonight.

"Can I just talk about the abortion number?" said Gloria Borger. "Because I think that is so striking."

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"This is 67 percent oppose a ban in New Hampshire, Only 27 percent favor it," said anchor Erin Burnett.

"Right," said Borger. "So here, you have a Republican primary, effectively. And you have this 67 percent number. And you have Joe Biden and Kamala Harris tonight talking about the repeal of Roe v. Wade. It is the one surefire issue — one of the one surefire issues that the Democrats have going into this next election. And it is unclear how motivational it will be, but when you see a number like that, you have to assume it will be very motivational."

"It's worked in red states, Kansas, Ohio," agreed Burnett.

"And listen, it is also why Nikki Haley is sounding a little more moderate than Donald Trump and sounds more moderate than Ron DeSantis, as well," said one other co-panelist. "It is shocking to me — we'll see if these numbers change. The immigration, like 45 percent of these voters think that folks should be offered a legal pathway here in this country. You know, Donald Trump obviously wants to ride the immigration issue to the White House in the way that he did in 2016. He doesn't quite have the Build the Wall slogan, but he has more vicious things like deportation. But so far, at least with these exit polls, some of these folks are sounding very moderate. The big question is, are we seeing that Donald Trump has a much softer underbelly as a GOP frontrunner than we thought?"

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