President Donald Trump is facing particularly devastating poll numbers regarding his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to a new analysis from CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten.
Trump's Polling Disaster on Epstein
Presenting his findings on Thursday, Enten revealed that Trump's polling is well "below water" on how Americans view his handling of the Epstein matter. "Donald Trump is underwater on basically every single issue he ran on in 2024. But the Epstein files, the Epstein case, are especially dreadful for him," Enten stated.
The data shows Trump's net approval ratings—calculated as percent approval minus percent disapproval—on several key 2024 campaign issues are negative, but the Epstein case stands out as catastrophic. On issues like immigration, foreign policy, trade/tariffs, and the economy, his ratings fall between -5 and -18 points in Enten's aggregate.
Trump's net approval rating on the Epstein case, however, is a staggering -39.
Bombshell Emails and a Looming Vote
These alarming poll numbers emerge just one day after the president was named in bombshell emails sent by the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The political fallout is expected to intensify, as the House of Representatives looks to vote next week on releasing files tied to Epstein.
Enten argued that the electorate is broadly rejecting the Trump administration's management of the Epstein affair. "There's nobody in the electorate who is buying" how the administration is handling all things Epstein, he contended during the segment.
He highlighted two specific polls from early July and late September that put the administration's approval on the Epstein case at a meager 17% and 20%, respectively.
A Stark Divide Within the Republican Party
Perhaps the most telling data point reveals a deep fissure in Trump's base. Enten compared the 87% of Republicans who approve of Trump's overall job as president to the mere 45% within the party who approve of his handling of the Epstein case.
While Enten noted that it's not yet certain if the case has moved Trump's overall approval rating, he issued a stark warning. "I can tell you that the more that this case is in the news, the worse it is for Donald Trump, because—simply put—it is his worst issue by far," he concluded.
