CNN Data Analyst Says Trump Would Beat Harris Again

CNN data expert Harry Enten shared more troubling insight for Democrats still banking on the idea that former President Donald Trump is struggling in the polls.

While acknowledging that Trump’s approval ratings have dipped since his presidency, Enten noted that he remains ahead of his Democratic opponents in head-to-head comparisons.

Enten referenced a fresh CNN survey indicating that 45% of respondents think Trump is outperforming how Vice President Kamala Harris would have governed. In contrast, 43% believe Harris would have done better, while 12% see no difference.

“It’s not just about regretting that vote. It’s literally saying who would be doing the better job right now? And Trump continues to score a higher percentage of the vote than Kamala Harris,” Enten explained. “This looks a heck of a lot like the election result. We have just seen this in poll after poll after poll, despite the fact that Trump’s favorable ratings aren’t too hot to trot when he’s matched up against who he was matched up against in 2024. He still, across the polls, scores a higher percentage than Kamala Harris.”

He continued, “The bottom line is when you look at Donald Trump in a vacuum, it’s one thing, but when you actually match him up against folks in the real world, all of a sudden his numbers look considerably better. And when you match him up against his main competition at this point, Democrats in Congress, he is more trusted on the main problems facing the United States right now. In fact, it’s not even close. It’s an eight-point advantage, which in this politics, well, that’s a wide ocean.”

Enten warned Democrats not to be lulled into a false sense of security by Trump’s unfavorable ratings alone.

“If Democrats think that at this particular point, just because Donald Trump is unpopular, that they’re going to run away with it like a Heisman trophy winner, that is not necessarily the case. These numbers should be a major wake-up call for Democrats, despite Donald Trump’s unpopularity in the polls,” he said.

He emphasized that when Trump is compared directly to Democratic leaders or the broader party, “Republicans and Donald Trump do considerably better. And that is why Democrats, in fact, cannot count their chickens just yet because those eggs have not cracked at this particular moment.”

Brett Cooper, host of The Brett Cooper Show on YouTube, echoed Enten’s warning by pointing to a growing disconnect between Democrats and younger voters.

“Democrats are completely out of touch with their voter base,” she told Fox & Friends. “They are aging out. We do not want them in Congress anymore on the left and the right.”

She referenced longtime lawmakers like Sen. Dick Durbin, who recently announced his upcoming retirement, as symbolic of the generational divide.

“You see members of Congress like Dick [Durbin] who are so old,” she added. “Young people feel unrepresented, and they are fed up.”

Cooper suggested the Democratic Party is caught in an internal struggle, leaving both centrist and progressive voters dissatisfied.

“If they don’t like Donald Trump, then they’re angry that their representatives are not pushing back enough. If they are more common sense in the center, they’re angry with how radical they’ve gotten. They just feel completely left alone,” she said.

Her views align with findings from a new survey conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, which underscores the growing disillusionment among young Americans.