CNN’s Harry Enten Says Dems Dealing with Worst Poll Position in Decades, Fact Checks Biden Saying He Was ‘Underestimated’ in 2020
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten dumped cold water on President Joe Biden’s claim that past polls “underestimated” him in 2020 amid calls from some in his own party for him to drop out.
The president made clear on Monday through a letter to Democratic lawmakers and in an interview on Morning Joe that he has no plans of stepping off the Democratic ticket following concerns over his debate performance against Donald Trump and a follow up interview with George Stephanopoulos.
Enten joined John Berman on Monday morning to discuss Biden’s poll numbers, pointing out that an aggregate of polls collected by CNN have Trump holding a three point lead against the president. During the same period in 2020, Biden held a nine point lead. Enten also noted that his worst poll position during 2020 was in April when he still held a four point lead. Enten reported that no CNN-approved polls in 2020 showed Trump with a lead.
“The idea that the polls underestimated Joe Biden last time around, simply put, does not hold any water,” he told Berman.
Berman noted at one point that Biden could have been referring to primary polls, but Enten argued there was only a brief time Biden slipped in primary polls, but he was ahead most of the time.
Biden has also dismissed poor polling by arguing that Republicans claimed there would be a “red wave” in 2022. Enten pushed back on this too, noting Republicans and Democrats only outperformed national polling by about a point.
“Biden is saying that 2020 polls underestimated him, so why believe them now? When it comes to the general election, that’s not true. Polls overestimated him,” Enten wrote in an X post about his segment, arguing that “if anything, the polls have underestimated Republicans during the Trump era.”
The data reporter painted an even bleaker image for Democrats, citing polling going back to 2000. Enten reported the collected polling show a Democratic Party presumptive nominee holding a lead over the Republican in the month of July before an election all the way back to 2000, the only year in those 24 years a Republican (George W. Bush) was leading.
“At this particular point, the idea that a Democrat is ahead, there are voters in the electorate who are dealing with a poll position they have never seen before and that is a Republican leading in the national popular vote,” Enten said.
Watch above via CNN.
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