CNN Analyst Visibly Shocked By Trump’s Massive Lead: ‘My God!’
CNN’s latest coverage of the presidential election has become the news equivalent of a five-alarm fire.
Hours after longtime host Fareed Zakaria begged President Joe Biden on his Sunday show to “turn things around,” analyst Harry Enten broke down the latest poll numbers from NYT/Sienna showing the Democratic incumbent badly training former President Donald Trump in key swing states that are expected to decide the election. Among them: Trump leads Biden by 9% in Georgia, ground zero to the disputed 2020 presidential results and two stunning U.S. Senate wins by Democrats that year. Arizona, another close loss for Trump four years ago, now favors him by 6% among likely voters.
“These numbers are an absolute disaster… 13 in Nevada? My goodness God!” said Enten. “No Democrat has lost that state since John Kerry lost it back in 2004. Results for Biden were no much better among the Great Lakes states where Trump leads Biden by 3% in Pennsylvania, 1% in Wisconsin, and remains just 1% behind in Michigan. However, “this they can work with,” he added before pointing back to the Sun Belt results. “This the Donald Trump campaign absolutely loves, and it looks like a lot of other polling.”
Demographic changes in the Trump coalition may explain the difference. Sun Belt states, home to a more working class and diverse swath of non-white voters, especially with Hispanic heritage, now give Trump 19% support compared to 13% four years ago. At the same time, the Republican’s support among white voters has dipped to 78% from 84%. “Those Sun Belt battleground states are more diverse than the Great Lake battleground states,” explained the analyst.
Looking at the Electoral College math, the advantage goes to Trump, “but he’s not over the 270 mark just yet.” With Great Lakes battleground states and several congressional districts in Maine and Nebraska all within the margin of error, Biden has a narrow path to victory, but all the chips must fall in his favor.
The clip, highlighted by President Trump’s war room account on X, signals his team is acutely aware of the ground he has made up since 2024. As Zakaria noted Sunday, Trump is now seen as the more competent leader by a majority of voters, a 25-point swing from where he stood four years ago. The results indicate just how fed up Americans are with stagflation and overseas wars with no end in sight. Additionally, Biden’s age has become a big factor among poll respondents, “and there’s very little Biden can do now to change that perception.”
Furthermore, every day the former president remains above the fold in the nation’s papers during his ongoing criminal trial is another win he’s notched, Zakaria noted. Supporters are given a fresh opportunity to feel aggrieved on his behalf while undecided voters may come to believe that the prosecution is “politically motivated,” a sentiment Zakaria admitted he feels as well. President Trump is back in court on Monday as prosecutors present testimony by his former attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen.
