CNN’s Harry Enten admits Trump has record 86% approval among GOP voters: 'Higher than Obama, Bush'

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten acknowledged that Donald Trump continues to command extraordinary loyalty within the Republican Party, noting that 86% of Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance, a level higher than what George W. Bush or Barack Obama received from their own party at the same stage.

Harry Enten, on Thursday, March 5, presented data evidence of Trump's dominance in the Republican party in the current times.

​GOP approval for Trump hits 86%

Enten compared Trump’s support within the GOP to the levels seen by previous presidents from their own party.

He noted that both Bush and Obama had identical levels of support among their party bases. “Bush was at 77%. Obama was at 77%,” Enten explained.

“But look at this, 86% of Republicans approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing at this point.”

Enten emphasized that the numbers demonstrate Trump’s continuing dominance among Republican voters.

“That is higher than either Obama or Bush had within their own party at this point,” he said.

Trump, at 56% ranked higher than Bush and Obama in terms of having 'strong approval within own party'.

Harry Enten says 'Trump's endorsement is gold'

Breaking down polling data on CNN, Enten emphasized that Trump’s influence inside the GOP remains unusually strong, especially when it comes to Republican primary elections.

He compared Trump’s endorsement power to legendary sports icons to illustrate the point.

“He’s a Tom Brady. He’s a Babe Ruth,” Enten said while discussing Trump’s record in Republican primaries.

Enten then laid out the numbers showing how often candidates backed by Trump end up winning.

“Times Trump endorses one GOP primaries, congressional and gubernatorial races, 98% in 2020, 95% in 2022, and then 96% in 2024,” he explained.

While noting that Trump frequently endorses incumbents who face weaker opposition, Enten said the pattern holds even when Trump backs challengers against sitting officeholders.

“I will note that often times he endorses incumbents and those folks don’t necessarily have very hard challenges,” Enten said. “But even when he endorses challengers against incumbents, the challengers win a majority of the time.”

Summing up the data, Enten concluded that Trump’s backing remains one of the most powerful forces in Republican politics.

“His endorsement, President Trump’s endorsement is as good as gold in Republican primaries,” he said.

Citing another solid evidence, Enten said Sen John Cornyn's chance to be Texas GOP nominee was 24% on March 3.

After reports of Trump's likely endorsement, the chances shot up to 85% overnight.

Trump, however, in a separate Truth Social post wrote “Both John and Ken ran great races but not good enough.”