Admittedly “tongue-tied” CNN anchor John Berman expressed shock at two new polls indicating trust is higher in Republicans than Democrats to handle the Iran war.
The numbers appear to be counterintuitive because the war, in which Republicans have essentially yielded all power to Trump, who started but can’t find a satisfactory way to end the conflict, is flat-out unpopular. Around 67% of Americans want it to end now, according to a CBS News poll.
“The president’s approval rating is sagging, the war in Iran is widely unpopular, so you’d think … that Democrats in Congress could see some kind of boost in the polls on this subject,” Berman said. “You might think that, but you’d be wrong … I’m tongue-tied because actually these numbers surprise me. I was looking at them, and I am surprised that they are like this.”
CNN data wonk Harry Enten did not mince words.
“Johnny B is not the only one who’s surprised,” he said. “You would be looking at all the news coverage. You’d be looking at all the polling of President Trump, and you would think that Democrats would be able to take advantage and be dominating Republicans when it comes to who is trusted to handle the Iran war. That simply put is not the case at all.”
This month, a CNBC poll and the aforementioned CBS News poll, released Friday, show a similar two-point advantage enjoyed by the Republicans on the Iran war. The latter asked respondents, “Who has a better approach to Iran?”
Enten noted that a poll in April had Democrats with a 2-point edge, but the 2-point edge for the Republicans now represents a 4-point switch over that time.
“The Republicans have been the ones that have been gaining ground, which I think just goes so opposed to all the news coverage,” Enten said.
Berman asked him if that has anything to do with Americans not liking Democrats in Congress “much at all”?
“The Democratic Party in the minds of the American public are weak, weak, weak to quote the great [former British PM) Tony Blair,” Enten replied. “The Democrats in Congress, simply put, are not well-liked.”
His conclusion should be especially alarming for Democrats running in the midterms as they try to gain back both the House and the Senate.
“Donald Trump and Republicans may not be liked,” Enten said, “but Democrats in Congress are really hated.”