CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said on Thursday that new polling shows congressional Democrats’ net approval rating has plunged to its lowest ever among Democrats.
Congressional Democrats’ approval rating is only 39% among Democrats, while their disapproval rating is 52%, according to Quinnipiac University polling published on Wednesday. Enten argued on “CNN News Central” that congressional Democrats’ pushback on President Donald Trump’s administration’s handling of documents pertaining to late convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein has been ineffective — as Trump’s approval is rising among Republicans while theirs is falling among their own party. (RELATED: How Did Jeffrey Epstein Make His Money? We Still Don’t Seem To Know)
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“Here’s what’s so important: You know, we talk about the potential of Republicans leaving Donald Trump. They’re not leaving him,” Enten said. “But what about congressional Democrats and problems with their own base? Democrats’ net approval of congressional Democrats, according to Quinnipiac University. In June of 2025, it was their second-worst ever at minus 12 points.”
“Is that not low enough for you? How about we go even lower? In July of 2025, minus 13 points, their worst net approval rating for congressional Democrats among Democrats ever!” he continued. “Donald Trump is not the one who has problems with his political base. It is congressional Democrats who are the ones who have problems with their own political base.”
The same Quinnipiac poll found that Trump’s approval rating among Republicans has risen to 90% despite the Epstein backlash. Moreover, a CNN/SSRS poll published on Wednesday found that Trump’s approval rating among Republicans climbed to 88%.
Backlash commenced when Axios reported on July 6 that a two-page memo showed the Department Of Justice (DOJ) and FBI found that Epstein had left no “client list.”
In addition to Democrats, Trump supporters, including former White House adviser Steve Bannon, have demanded the publication of all the documents related to Epstein.
“I don’t think this thing is going to go away … You’ve got to release everything,” Bannon said on “Bannon’s War Room” July 10. “Just release it all. I don’t think there’s any middle ground.”
Enten also said on Wednesday that Democrats are historically lagging in polls with just one year to go until the 2026 midterm elections.
“Democrats are behind their 2006 and 2018 paces when it comes to the generic congressional ballot … Look at where we are now, Democrats are ahead, but by just two points,” Enten said. “Look at where Democrats were already ahead by in 2017, they were ahead by 7 points. How about 2005 on the congressional ballot? Ahead by 7 points, ahead by 7 points, and now they’re only ahead by 2 points?”
“That lead is less than half of where it was in either 2017 or 2005 in July. In those years, the year before the midterm elections,” he added. “Yes, Donald Trump may be unpopular, but Democrats have not come anywhere close to sealing the deal at this particular point.”
Furthermore, a CNN/SSRS poll found in March that Democrats’ favorability stood at only 29%, the lowest percentage dating back to 1992. A Marist/NPR/PBS News poll published on July 1 also found that just 27% of Americans approved of how congressional Democrats were performing.
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