‘Opposition up like a rocket!’ CNN analyst dumps more bad news on Trump
Americans have resignedly rejected President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, according to new polling that left CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten stunned on Monday.
“They have turned against tariffs the same way college football pundits have turned against Arch Manning after his performance in Columbus on Saturday,” Enten said, speaking to new polling that showed a souring on tariffs among Americans since Trump’s election victory last November.
Trump’s tariffs, which have been touted by the administration as a tool to increase the United States’ domestic manufacturing capabilities, have been a focal point of the president’s second term, having been placed on hundreds of countries. However, a federal court ruled Sunday that the tariffs were unlawful, though they will remain in place until at least Oct. 14 as the Trump administration likely pursues an appeal.
While the permanency of the tariffs will likely be debated over the coming month, Americans’ opinion on them has collapsed, according to the new polling revealed Monday, which showed their 52% favorability in November plummet to 40% over ten months.
“You go back to November of 2024, the popular position was 'favor,' they favored new tariffs on imported goods, 52%!” Enten said.
“You go to [now], look at that, the opposition is up like a rocket! We're talking about 60% opposing new tariffs compared to just 40% in favor. So it was majority favor back when Trump was re-elected in November of 2024, now it's a clear three in five Americans oppose it. The Americans have gotten a taste of the tariffs and they spit it right out.”
The root cause of Americans souring on tariffs, Enten explained, was the impact on the costs of goods.
According to the polling, 77% of respondents said they believe tariffs would increase costs in the short term, versus just 4% who said they believed tariffs would decrease costs. In the long term, 50% of Americans said they believed tariffs would increase costs, versus just 25% who said tariffs would decrease costs in the long term.
“It all comes down to money, out of the pocket book, impact of tariffs on prices,” Enten said. “In the short term, 77% of Americans now agree they raise prices in the short term.”
The plunge in support for tariffs among Americans could also pose a significant threat to Trump’s own favorability, even among his supporters, Enten went on to argue.
“This is why the political implications are so important, because Fox News literally asked what's the top reason that Trump's doing a bad job; what ranks as number one?” he said. “The economy and tariffs rank as number one, the number-one reason why those who disapprove of Trump think he's doing a bad job.”
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