CNN’s Harry Enten stunned Americans trust GOP over Dems on foreign policy

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten expressed surprise on Monday about how Americans trust Republicans more than Democrats when it comes to foreign policy, despite ongoing global conflicts.

A Fox News poll conducted in July found Republicans have a three-point advantage on foreign policy, while a Wall Street Journal poll found the GOP with an eight-point advantage in July, Enten said. On “CNN News Central,” Enten asserted the data was “surprising” because of foreign policy issues taking place under the Republican-controlled government.

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“This one was a surprising one to me, given everything that’s going on in Russia, what happened in Iran, what happened in Gaza. But the bottom line is: Democrats in the American voters’ minds cannot hack it,” Enten said. “What are we talking about? Party trusted more on foreign policy. Well, the GOP holds an average six-point lead in the month of July. Look at this. Fox News came out last week, plus three points for Republicans on foreign policy over the Democrats.”

“You think that number is not high enough for you? How about the Wall Street Journal? GOP plus eight points when they match congressional Democrats up against congressional Republicans,” he continued. “The bottom line is this: despite everything that’s going on in the world right now, Republicans are more trusted [than] Democrats when it comes to foreign policy and the world at large.”

CNN anchor John Berman asked Enten how the numbers compare to those during the 2024 presidential campaign.

“Again, this to me was a surprising number since [President] Donald Trump said he’d come in and broker all these peace deals. And while he’s brokered some, he hasn’t obviously brokered one between Ukraine and Russia,” Enten said. “And obviously the situation in Gaza. But take a look here. Trust more on foreign policy. You go back to 2024. Trump had a six-point advantage over [former Vice President] Kamala Harris. Again, look at the average right now. It hasn’t moved despite everything that‘s going on in the world. You see Republicans plus six points here.”

“Despite any misgivings that the American public might have about Donald Trump, when you match up Republicans against Democrats, Donald Trump against Democrats, still, at this particular point, they are doing significantly better than you might expect,” he added. “And when it comes to the issue of foreign policy, again, what you see is in the American voters’ minds, Democrats, simply put, can’t hack it. More voters trust Republicans on foreign policy very much like they did back during the 2024 campaign.”

Trump told reporters on Monday that he would drastically shorten the deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to come to a ceasefire deal with Ukraine from 50 days to “10 or 12 days” during his meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. The president threatened to implement sweeping secondary tariffs and sanctions against crucial Russian industries if a deal was not reached.

Recent polling by CNN and The Wall Street Journal also found that Democrats’ favorability ratings have plunged to 28% and 33%, respectively.

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