CNN's Enten says Trump's GOP approval skyrockets +106 as Bush crashes: 'This is Trump's party now'

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: CNN data analyst Harry Enten said on Thursday, May 28, that the Republican Party, once dominated by former President George W Bush, has effectively faded away as President Donald Trump cements overwhelming control over GOP voters.

Discussing the dramatic political shift inside the party, Enten pointed to new favorability numbers and recent primary results as evidence that Trump’s influence now dwarfs that of Bush-era Republicans.

Harry Enten says George W Bush's GOP is over

While analyzing Sen John Cornyn’s crushing Texas primary defeat, Enten argued the race reflected a much larger political realignment happening across the Republican Party.

“The George W Bush era of the Republican Party is simply put, dead,” Enten said, describing Cornyn’s loss as symbolic of the decline of establishment Republicans.

Enten highlighted how dramatically Republican voter sentiment has shifted since Trump first entered politics in 2015.

Before Trump’s presidential campaign, Bush held a massive positive approval rating among GOP voters, while Trump struggled for acceptance inside the party. Now, according to Enten, the situation has completely flipped.

“Donald Trump is now at plus 61,” he said while discussing Trump’s favorability among Republicans, calling it “an over 100-point shift” from where Trump stood a decade ago.

At the same time, Bush’s standing among Republican voters has weakened sharply.

“George W Bush has fallen through the floor,” Enten remarked, noting that the former president’s support within the GOP has dropped significantly since Trump reshaped the party.

Enten also argued that the Texas results demonstrated how closely Republican voters now tie party loyalty to support for Trump personally.

“The bottom line is that Donald Trump, it’s his party,” he said, adding that the transformation is visible “even in George W Bush’s backyard.”

Polls show voters side with Trump

The conversation came during CNN’s discussion about the growing divide between traditional establishment Republicans and Trump-aligned conservatives ahead of the upcoming elections.

Enten cited polling showing most Republican voters want GOP lawmakers to cooperate more closely with Trump rather than oppose him.

According to the numbers he referenced, around 80% of Republican voters believe congressional Republicans should do more to support Trump, while only a small minority want lawmakers to stand up against him politically.

“When 80-plus% of the party is with you, you know you own the party,” Enten said.

The data discussion followed a string of recent Republican primary battles in which candidates seen as less aligned with Trump struggled badly with GOP voters, reinforcing the president’s continued dominance over the party base.