CNN Polling Guru Blown Away by Trump's Disastrous New Lows

[applegrove]

CNN Polling Guru Blown Away by Trump’s Disastrous New Lows

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Martha McHardy
Reporter

Published Feb. 16 2026 12:27PM EST

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-polling-guru-blown-away-by-trumps-disastrous-new-lows/

CNN data analyst Harry Enten says President Donald Trump is now in a league of his own when it comes to sinking approval ratings.

Citing an average of recent surveys from AP-NORC, NBC News, Yahoo-YouGov, and Quinnipiac, Enten noted that Trump’s net approval rating now stands at -22. By comparison, Joe Biden was at -13 in February 2022, while Trump sat at -12 during the same point in his first term.

“Look at this, I got four numbers across for you on this screen here. They are all second-term lows for the given pollster. What are we talking about? AP-NORC, 26 points below water. NBC, 22 points below water. Yahoo-YouGov, 20 points below the water. Quinnipiac, 19 points below water. So we’re ranging from -19 points, all the way to -26 points,” Enten said.

Enten's analysis revealed that the drop in Trump's approval rating is being driven by independent voters.

[Walleye]

1. He refuses to believes the polls as he does any other fact

This is a man who is in denial about a pandemic that was killing millions and millions of human beings. Can’t expect him to believe that people don’t love him , just because of overwhelming polling.
After all, he settled eight wars.

[llmart]

5. I honestly don't think he cares about the polls no matter how low they go.

He'll have stolen enough of our money and destroyed what his handlers wanted him to destroy. He'll have put in place the mechanism to stay on until he drops dead.

[Walleye]

18. if Putin is happy, he's happy

Last edited Tue Feb 17, 2026, 08:41 AM - Edit history (1)

[krkaufman]

10. He definitely believes the polling

His increasing efforts to subvert the midterms show that he understands the GOP would get clobbered if voter sentiment is accurately translated to votes.

[Walleye]

17. That's a good point

[tanyev]

2. "You've never seen lows this low! Everybody says they've never seen anything like it!"

🤨

[durablend]

3. Guess that's more polling companies that'll be shutting down soon.

[helpisontheway]

4. Drops are because of independent voters. Of course his cult members would still support him. 🙄nt

[LuvLoogie]

6. What's up with these "Independents?"

I mean trump is the same dude. He doesn't change. What could be their selfish reasons?

[Aviation Pro]

7. They're shooting white people now

That’s what’s up.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. He's Finally Hurting Them

They voted for him because "low taxes" & the empty promise of lower grocery prices.
The tax cuts barely impact most people & consumer prices are higher.
They feel the squeeze and they are finally realizing they voted for a fantasy.
I don't know that this is true; just reasoned speculation.

[Deminpenn]

29. IMO, there are two categories of Independents

First are people who are re-aligning themselves from one party to another, usually D to R/R to D. The first stop is registration as an Ind for an election cycle or two before registering to another party.

Second are people who consider themselves independent voters even thought they may not be registered Inds. These voters seem to be swinging back and forth between candidates based mostly on the condition of their daily lives. They voted for Obama, then Trump, then Biden, then back to Trump. When whoever they helped elect doesn't "help them" right away, they rapidly swing the other way.

While actual registered Inds may be small in number, the people who consider themselves Ind is much larger and crosses party lines.

[BaronChocula]

9. "Independent" will become a synonym of "slow"

thanks to the "independent" voters who keep helping the effort to get us into this situation and then turning around to regret it.

Many of those same people who were rightly unimpressed with trump 2017-20 and voted for Biden then turned on Biden who had actually righted the ship. I wonder what it's like to lack the ability to engage in adult reasoning.

[Hieronymus Phact]

22. 2 things:

• I'm an independent but vote Dem. Independent's leanings are across the spectrum.
• They didn't turn on Biden they turned on Harris. Democrats just aren't smart enough to market their "Brand" so things fall back on personality not performance.

[BaronChocula]

24. You may not have turned on Biden personally

But Biden definitely lost support among independents, as did Harris. Both things can be true.

I have an issue with the branding argument in that trump was a known failed brand with unprecedented negatives while Harris had a record of service while largely unknown was free of those same negatives.

The only branding that should matter is Democratic priorities align considerably more with what the majority of Americans value including:
- Women's bodily autonomy
- A progressive tax system
- Reasonable firearm regulations
- Addressing climate change
- Affordable health care
- Consumer protection

The so-called branding advantage afforded to republicans doesn't come from reality, but from an egregious perception, mainly among white voters that a group that looks like picture A isn't as trustworthy or capable as a group that looks like picture B. In fact, the overall economy does worse under republican administrations yet the overwhelming perception is that republicans are better at it. This has been the case for decades. I'm curious as to what more Democrats need to say in order to capture the branding advantage.

Picture A

Picture B

[Skittles]

28. it is NOT that they are not "smart enough"

as with women / POC, Dems are held to a completely different and much higher standard than repukes

[BannonsLiver]

32. Most independents lean left or center left, not to the right, as you claim

But hey what a winning message for the party moving forward: “Hey, independents, you’re feckless and stupid, but vote for us anyway!11”

[BaronChocula]

34. I didn't claim independents leaned one way or the other

I DID claim most Americans value Democratic priorities. How they vote is another story.

And BTW, I'm not a spokesman for for the party. I'm speaking for myself.

[FakeNoose]

11. I guess they finally started asking the "real" Americans

You know, the people who actually tell the truth to pollsters.

[Bluetus]

12. They are all in on voter suppression

Usually Republicans do their massive wreckage the first year then work like hell the second year to put lipstick on the pig.

These people aren't even trying to make themselves appear less offensive. Just the opposite.

[not a texan]

13. I hate the term below water, give me data instead

This could mean he is still polling at 37 to 39% depending in the number of undecided voters. No matter what he does it seems like his approval ratings stay about the same in the high 30's. Over a third of the country still supports this piece of crap. If 37% approve and 63%, disapprove he would be 26 points below water.

[Figarosmom]

14. So what does -26 points mean in terms

Of percentage? He's at 35% or what? Are too afraid to spell it out?

[Auggie]

15. Is it similar to 600% less?

[Deminpenn]

30. It's the difference between approve and disapprove

If, for ex, Trump's approval is 37%, add 26% to get his disapproval rating of 63% . 63-37 is 26 pts, thus underwater at -26.

[kellytore]

16. Gallup has stopped polling on approval rating.

I wonder if Fat King Coal put threats on them. It won't be long before the other polling agencies stop this too.

[calimary]

19. I LOVE that new nickname!

Last edited Tue Feb 17, 2026, 03:35 PM - Edit history (1)

“Fat King Coal”!!!

Another Almond Joy moment: Indescribably Delicious!!!

[TheRickles]

20. Such an unhelpful way of reporting the data.

Net approval of -25% could mean something like 30% approve, 55% disapprove, and 15% undecided. But we can't tell for sure because the entire video clip and article at the link only compare net approvals. Regardless, the polls are certainly showing that he's heading down, down, down, as more people are waking up. So it bodes well overall.

[NoMoreRepugs]

21. I'm sorry but anyone who thinks the Independent voting block is an intelligent one

as a whole is BADLY BADLY MISTAKEN.

[Orrex]

25. Hell, anyone who thinks that the Independent voting block is independent is badly mistaken.

It's a rare Independent who doesn't consistently choose one party over the other.

[Orrex]

23. I feel that some will mistake this for a brilliant strategy of strongly-worded letters

[Blue Owl]

26. Sink. Sank. Sunk.

[spanone]

27. K&R

[Takket]

31. I wonder if the independents

Will internalize their bad choices at all? Will they have any regret, especially those that payed little or no attention to the election, and just voted for drumpf because “he’s a business man!”

Will they feel any personal shame that they believed in and voted for a complete myth that does not exist? Will they regret the deaths of the men, women and children who will die because of their uniformed choices? Because they couldn’t be bothered to invest even an hour looking into project 2025 to see the horrors inside?

I am and have been especially furious with “low information voters” who cast a ballot with all the care and attention of someone blindfolded lobbing grenades into a crowd full of people.