CNN's Harry Enten presented new polling data Monday that Republican candidates might not want to see.
President Donald Trump was re-elected to a second term by promising to reduce the cost of living on day one — but polling has consistently shown that Americans have soured on his economic policies. Data expert Enten told "CNN News Central" the numbers are now gouging a deep wedge into GOP support.
"You know, if I was a member of the White House, these are the numbers that would make me go 'yikes,'" Enten said. "And if I was a Republican member of Congress, I would want to run – but there is no place to hide, because just take a look here, okay? Trump will or is making you financially worse off [or] better off? The reason he was reelected to a second term back in October of 2024 is the plurality said that Trump's policies would make them better off, 44 percent to 38 percent who say worse off.
"Come up to this side of the screen — worse off, up like a rocket. We're talking 53 percent, wow. Exactly right, wow, 53 percent of Americans now say that Trump's policies make them worse off, compared to just 18 percent, just 18 percent who say better off. So that six-point plurality in favor of better off back in October of 2024 has become a 35-point plurality in terms of worse off. Again, these are numbers that would make me go 'yikes' if I were in the White House."
"You think these numbers are bad?" he added. "Among independents, they're even worse. Take a look here – hello – okay, independents, Trump is making you, yeah, ooh, ooh, October of 2024. The slight plurality, though, within the margin of error said better off, 40 percent. Worse off, 38 percent. Now just 13 percent, a very unlucky 13, indeed, of independents say that Trump's policies are making you financially better off compared to 63 who say worse off.
"That is now a 47-point majority in favor of worse off compared to a two-point plurality in favor of better off back in October of 2024. That is a 50-point, a near 50-point switcheroo to the worse-off side among independents who ultimately decide elections in this country, and that's why I said, if you're a Republican member of Congress, you want to run. But there's truthfully no place to hide, no place to hide."
Enten put those findings into historical context.
"At this point in term two, independents, Trump is historic at this point," he said. "Look at this, 48 points underwater, double as bad as Obama was, double digits worse than George W. Bush was at this point. I was even looking back to the '80s. He's worse than Ronald Reagan. Any president in the last 50 years in terms of his economic net approval rating among independents at this point in a second term, again, you can run, but the truth is, there's no place to hide if you're a Republican running for re-election."
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