CNNs own data now confirms what Republican voters have sensed for years: Donald Trumps backing in a primary is worth its weight in political gold.
According to the Gateway Pundit, CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten walked viewers through fresh polling that underscores just how dominant Trump remains inside the Republican Party. Enten noted that Trump had recently boasted on Truth Social, When I endorse, its a very big deal because the people that I endorse, the endorseees, almost always win, and the numbers, to the networks surprise, back him up.
Enten told viewers, And as it turns out, the President is correct on this. He is a GOAT when it comes to Republican primaries. Hes a Tom Brady. He is a Babe Ruth. He then highlighted Trumps extraordinary record in GOP congressional and gubernatorial primaries, stating, Because take a look here. Times Trump endorsees won GOP primaries-Congressional and Gubernatorial Races, 98% in 2020, 95% in 2022, and then 96% in 2024.
The data journalist did acknowledge that some of those wins came in relatively safe races, observing, Now, I will note that oftentimes he endorses incumbents, and those folks dont necessarily have very hard challenges. Yet even when Trump chooses to challenge the establishment, Enten conceded, But even when he endorses challengers against incumbents, the challengers win a majority of the time.
Summing up the impact of Trumps backing, Enten declared, His endorsement, President Trumps endorsement, is as good as gold in Republican primaries. Co-anchor John Berman, clearly struck by the numbers, tried to put the record in perspective, saying, You compare it to Tom Brady. He actually does better than Tom. Tom Brady lost a few Super Bowls stunningly. Donald Trump almost never loses when he endorses in a primary because Why?
Entens answer cut through the media narrative that Trumps influence is fading. Why? Because Republicans love Donald Trump more than any Presidents own party supporters loved him at this particular point, he replied, before turning to approval data among each presidents own party.
Just take a look here. Okay, own party supporters. 21st century Presidents own party approval about at this point in the second term. Bush was at 77%. Obama was at 77%, Enten explained. Then he contrasted those figures with Trumps standing, adding, Look at this- 86 % of Republicans approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing at this point. That is higher than either Obama or Bush had within their own party at this point. Trumps magic touch has not seen a war-off yet when it comes to the Republican base.
Berman pressed for more detail, asking, And what approval are we talking about here? Enten clarified that the numbers reflect both general and intense support, saying, Okay, so were talking about overall approval here. How about the strongly approved? The strongly approved, not just like, but love.
He then revisited the comparison among recent presidents, this time focusing on intensity of support. Okay, were going to look at these same presidents again. Strong approval among your own partys base. What you see here is Trump is the only one who gets a majority at this point in their presidency, Enten said.
Obama was at 48%, Bush was at 47%, you see here Trump at 53%, not as high as his overall approval rating, but still getting a majority of the Republican base, at least in the average of polls, to say that they still really, really, really like him, he continued. Berman then turned to the looming question of whom Trump might bless in the next major contest, remarking, Okay, so the President says he will endorse. He hasnt said who he will endorse yet, but I bet you the prediction markets have a sense.
Enten responded that betting markets are already moving on the assumption that Trump will weigh in on the Texas Senate race. Yeah, there have been rumblings. The prediction markets are hearing rumblings, and they think that it is going to be this man, John Cornyn, whos the incumbent, who, of course, got more votes in the initial round just on Tuesday, he said.
He then pointed to the dramatic shift in the Kalshi Prediction Market once traders began pricing in a Trump endorsement. On Tuesday, the chance, according to the Kalshi Prediction Market, that he would be the GOP nominee for Senate in Texas was 24%. Now, on the belief that Trump will endorse, look at that, up like a rock at 85%, and that is because the markets believe what we saw on slide number one, which is Trumps endorsement, is very, very important, Enten explained.
Reiterating his earlier praise, Enten concluded, Hes a G-O-A-T. When Berman remarked, That increase really only because of the endorsement, Enten simply replied, You got that right.
For conservatives, the segment amounted to a rare moment of candor on CNN, where the networks own numbers now show that Trumps bond with Republican voters is not only intact but historically strong, and that his magic touch in primaries continues to unsettle the political class that has long hoped his influence would fade.
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