CNN’s senior political data analyst Harry Enten was left shocked while reporting on President Donald Trump’s approval rating over his handling of the Ukraine-Russia war.
Enten noted that Trump is doing “considerably better” than former President Joe Biden regarding the war in Ukraine.
On Friday, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky left Trump and Vice President JD Vance outraged over his “disrespectful” behavior during a meeting at the White House.
The meeting went off the rails after Zelensky began to complain in front of the media about the peace deal that Trump had negotiated to end the war,
Zelensky continued to argue with Trump and Vance and made it clear that he wanted the war to continue with America challenging Russia’s “aggression.”
Since the meeting, which ended with Zelensky being kicked out of the White House, Democratic Party leaders have been declaring their faux outrage.
However, many Republicans and voters from both sides approve of Trump’s approach to this foreign conflict.
Enten spoke about how polling indicates that Americans have shifted dramatically in the past few years in terms of how they feel about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
While breaking down the polling, Enten said:
“I think the easiest way we can kind of just ask this is, ‘Do Americans like the way that Trump is handling his job and compare it to how they felt about Joe Biden?’
“So this is the net approval rating,” Enten said as he gestured at a CBS News/YouGov polling chart.
The polling compared how voters felt about how both presidents handled the Russia-Ukraine conflict while in office.
“You look at Joe Biden back in 2024,” he said.
“He was 22 points underwater, holy cow!”
Enten continued by gesturing at how Trump has a positive net rating.
“You look at Donald Trump,” he said.
“It’s just a different planet entirely.
“I mean, the gulf between these two is wider than the Gulf of America, or Mexico, depending on which side of the aisle you stand on. He’s at plus two.”
“So look, at this particular point, Americans are giving Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt,” he said.
“He‘s doing considerably better than Joe Biden was doing on the handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and so on this simple question, I think Americans are saying, ‘Okay, Donald Trump is doing alright on this!’”
CNN host Kate Bolduan then asked Enten to show how Americans feel about bringing the war to an end.
He noted that a “bare majority,” 50%, of the Americans Gallup polled want a quick end to the war where Russia is allowed to keep captured land.
This was compared to 48% who would rather Ukraine keep fighting the endless and unwinnable war.
While this seems like a neck-and-neck result in the moment, Enten explained that “the trend line on this question is so important” because those who wanted a quick end to the war were merely at 31% in 2022.
“Now we’re at 50%,” Enten said.
“I mean, that is a rocket ship upwards in terms of the Americans who want a quick end to the war, even if it means Russia keeps the captured Ukraine land.
“Americans are moving closer and closer to wanting a compromise, even if it means that Ukraine doesn‘t really get what it set out to want, at least at the beginning of this war.”
“Americans’ views on Russia are shifting as well,” Bolduan observed.
“Absolutely,” Enten replied.
“I mean, one of the reasons why we’re seeing this is Americans who say ‘Russia is an enemy,’ you go back to 2023, it was 64%, and that CBS News YouGov poll? It was down to 34%.”
Enten noted that while there is still a chunk of the American populace that believes that Russia is an unfriendly nation, “the percentage who believe that they’re either an ally or friendly, that‘s up to 34% as well, basically equal to the percentage who say that they‘re an enemy.”
He then argued that this shifting attitude toward Russia, ultimately, is why Americans are willing to support a compromise to end the war.
“So views on Russia have become, let‘s say, a little less isolated in terms of wanting Russia to be way out there on their own, thinking that they’re an enemy,” the CNN polling expert said.
“At this particular point, they‘re starting to see Russia a little bit more friendly, and I think that‘s part of the reason why Americans want to see a compromise at this particular hour.”
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