CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten says some of the sharpest backlash against President Donald Trump is now coming from Americans who sat out the 2024 election.
Recent polling from The New York Times and the Pew Research Center shows that Trump’s approval rating among Americans who did not vote in 2024 now sits at -50 points. That is down from +4 points in 2024.
“They have become absolutely perturbed, I dare say they are p---ed off at the president of the United States,” Enten said on CNN News Central.
Enten explained that this is mainly due to Trump’s handling of the economy.
Energy prices have spiked since Trump launched his war with Iran in February, with Iran blockading the Strait of Hormuz.
According to AAA, the national average for regular gasoline has risen above $4.50 a gallon, with prices topping $5 in seven states. Inflation also climbed to 3.8 percent in April—the highest in nearly three years.
As a result, polling has shown growing economic unease. A New York Times/Siena survey found just 28 percent approve of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, while the latest Fox News poll showed disapproval of Trump’s handling of the economy has now risen to 71 percent, a new low for the president.
And that dissatisfaction with the economy also extends to Americans who opted out of the 2024 election.
In November 2024, 60 percent of those voters said they were confident that Trump would make good decisions about the economy. Now, only 19 percent say that.
“We are just talking about numbers that are falling through the basement. If you hire the carpenters who built Donald Trump’s floor on this, you shouldn’t have,” Enten said.
That is bad news for Trump and his party ahead of the midterms.
Republicans have already expressed fears that rising gas prices could be an “Achilles’ heel” for Republicans in November, with polls putting the Democrats firmly ahead for November’s elections.
“The toughest thing, too, is that we made gas prices the Achilles’ heel for (former President Joe) Biden and now it’s our own,” an unnamed adviser told Reuters last week.
And it appears that 2024 non-voters may opt for the Democrats in November. The New York Times polling has shown that Democrats are winning among these voters by 31 points.
That is a very worrying sign for the GOP, Enten said, because 48 percent of this group said they are either very likely or almost certain to vote in the midterm elections in November.
“So this is a group I’d really be paying a lot of attention on,” Enten added. “Because the reason why Democrats are doing so well in the generic ballot is in large part among those who stayed home in 2024, many of them will vote in 2026 and they won’t be voting Republican.
“They’ll be voting Democratic because the truth is they’re just p---ed off at the president of the United States.
“When you’re perturbed, you turn out to vote.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Daily Beast: “In President Trump’s first term, Americans enjoyed historic job, wage, and economic growth—along with the first drop in wealth inequality in decades—thanks to tax cuts, tariffs, deregulation, and energy abundance. As this same proven agenda continues taking effect in President Trump’s first term, Americans can count on the best being yet to come.”
