CNN political analysts were forced to make an admission about President Donald Trump that likely left a bitter taste in their mouths, as the network data guru Harry Enten revealed that Trump’s endorsement of South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham who has decided to run in the special election, impacted her chances of winning the seat.
The data shows that after Trump gave Graham his stamp of approval, her odds of winning the seat rose to 80%. It doesn’t take a political genius to know that is a significant bump, especially for an individual who has no prior political experience. Enten then explained that the same data before the endorsement only showed Graham with a 14% chance of winning the special election.
“There’s a reason why this 14 percent became 80 percent and that is because when it comes to Senate primaries, Donald Trump’s record is magnificent,” Enten said during the segment. He then explained that since 2022, Trump’s endorsements have helped lead his preferred candidates to victory in over 95% of Senate races for an open seat.
“We’re looking at open seats or appointed incumbents who have never actually won the Senate seat. Look at this: since 2022, it’s about 95 percent of the time. This year, in fewer races, it’s 100 percent of the time. No wonder why the prediction markets and the conventional wisdom have moved so rapidly once Trump made that endorsement because at least in Senate races, Trump’s record this year 100% and since 2022 nearly 100%,” Enten told the viewing audience.
“There has never been somebody I have seen as powerful in terms of their ability to move the electorate in primaries than the current president of the United States, Donald John Trump. What’s one reason for that? One reason why is because Trump is still very popular with Republicans,” he continued in his breakdown of the numbers.
“Just take a look here. Okay, 21st century own party approval rating. About at this point in the second term, we got Trump, we got Obama, we got Bush. Look, they’re all fairly popular, but the one who is the most popular, and we have seen this time in and time out, no matter when you look, is Donald John Trump,” Enten said.
“He’s the only one who’s over 80%, 83% of Republicans still approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing as president. He still has that magic touch. We’ll see if it carries over to South Carolina, but we’ve seen it in primaries this year, Senate primaries, and that is because he is still a very popular man, historically popular, when it comes to his own party liking and approving of the job that he’s doing,” he concluded.
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President Trump’s endorsements have become worth their weight in gold for political candidates, often paving the way for them to oust incumbent Republicans who have allied themselves with the establishment wing of the party. Earlier this year, a number of incumbents in the state of Indiana who refused to support the president’s push for redistricting were booted during the primary by candidates who received Trump’s endorsement.
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