CNN's Harry Enten pointed to data showing Republicans are in "big, big trouble" in states where President Donald Trump is unpopular.
Democrats thumped Republicans and Trump-backed independents in Tuesday's elections, and Enten told "CNN News Central" that a polling analysis shows the president hurt the party's chances in the off-year contest.
"I think there are a lot of Republicans who saw those polls that showed Donald Trump low nationally, and they didn't necessarily believe him, but for Democrats, those polls are real and they are spectacular," Enten said.
During the president's first term, in 2017, 82 percent of New Jersey voters who disapproved of Trump at the time backed the Democratic nominee for governor, while 87 percent of disapprovers backed the Democratic nominee in Virginia – and that share grew even higher in this year's elections.
"If there is any idea that Republicans are going to be able to outrun Donald Trump's low approval ratings, this says not," Enten said. "They're going to be like impalas getting chased down in the African desert by a big lion. Look at this: 93 percent of Trump disapprovals voted for the Democratic nominee in New Jersey, and 92 percent voted for them in the great commonwealth of Virginia. The bottom line is this: What those results on Tuesday night showed us is that Donald Trump is absolutely a drag on Republican candidates in New Jersey and Virginia, likely nationwide there."
"If you are in a state where Donald Trump is underwater, you are in big, big trouble," he added.
Trump is at personal all-time lows in approval rating, and Enten said that trend does not bode well for Republican congressional candidates next year.
"These are polls that are out this week," Enten said. "Look, CNN, he was 26 points underwater, CBS, 18 points underwater, ABC, 18 points underwater. The NBC/Hart Public Opinion Strategies poll, he was 12 points underwater. My goodness gracious, he's down there with the Titanic, and this is what is turning in for the Republican Party. That result on Tuesday night was a titanic proportion, just absolutely awful result. New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, in terms of those judgeships, those Supreme Court judgeships, essentially, you know, retaining those judges, all the Democratic candidates won. Democrats won their first statewide races that weren't federal in Georgia for the first time in a generation. What we are talking about at this particular point is Donald Trump is absolutely a drag."
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