President Donald Trump’s unpopularity has reached the point where it is starting to spell “big, big trouble” for the Republicans, CNN’s Data Guru Harry Enten warned on Wednesday.
Tuesday night’s election blowout showed the anti-Trump voting bloc has grown to the point that it has become a “drag” on Republicans in states where he is already unpopular, Enten said, as record numbers of voters turned out to explicitly vote against the president and his policies.
“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.
Highlighting data from the New Jersey and Virginia elections, Enten demonstrated how the anti-Trump vote was gaining momentum. In 2017, 82 percent and 87 percent of Trump disapprovers voted for the Democratic candidate in their respective state elections. However, those numbers had risen to 93 and 92 percent each in 2025, indicating how a rejection of the president’s agenda was becoming a unifying factor, regardless of party loyalty.
“If there is any idea that Republicans are going to be able to outrun Donald Trump’s low approval ratings, this says not,” he 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 said.
Despite being an off-year, Trump’s plummeting approval ratings could spell serious trouble for the GOP in next year’s midterms, he added.
“These are polls that are out this week,” Enten explained. ”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,” he said.
While both the Democratic and Republican Parties continue to be unpopular with voters, a dislike of the president is likely the motivating factor for a lot of voters going forward, Enten explained, citing this week’s results as a valuable sample size.
“What does that all mean? I think there are a lot of Republicans who say, ‘okay, Donald Trump ain‘t that popular. But the Democrats aren‘t popular either. And those Democratic low favorability ratings, those will save us.’ Well, we had a test of that on Tuesday night.”
Enten Displayed numbers that showed voters who had an unfavorable view of both parties voted for the Democratic candidate by a margin of 66 points in New Jersey and 56 points in Virginia.
“Here‘s the margin. Look at this in New Jersey. If you viewed neither party favorably in New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill won that vote by 66 points. How about in Virginia? Abigail Spanberger won that vote by 56 points. It doesn‘t necessarily matter. It turns out that the Democrats aren’t viewed that unfavorably, because amongst those who like neither party, the Democrats ran away with it.”
“You know, I started off with a running analogy talking about the African desert. These folks are like Usain Bolt. Despite the fact that the Democrats are viewed unfavorably, Democrats are like Usain Bolt because Donald Trump is like rocket fuel and they‘re able to run away from the pack,” he said.
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