CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten noted on Monday that Republican nominee Donald Trump is performing better in swing states compared to the 2020 election.
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll, Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris by 5 points in Arizona and has a 4-point lead in Georgia and a 3-point lead in North Carolina.
Enten highlighted that these figures are “significantly better” than Trump’s polling performance in 2020, signaling a positive trend for the former president.
“You’ve got a lot of red on this screen, this is pretty good news for Donald Trump … You take it all together in these three key battleground states, two of which [President] Joe Biden carried 4 years ago, we see that Donald Trump is ahead and by an average of 4 points, significantly better than he did back in 2020 across all of these states,” Enten noted.
Enten also highlighted Harris’ narrow 2-point leads in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, emphasizing a significant divide between the Sun Belt and Great Lakes states. He attributed Trump’s stronger performance in the Sun Belt to his coalition becoming more racially diverse, noting an increase in his support among non-white voters from 16% in 2020 to 20% in 2024.
“If you know anything about those Sun Belt battleground states, it’s that they are more diverse than those Great Lake battleground states,” Enten said. “In the Southwest, they’re more Hispanic than they are nationwide, in the South, Southeast, North Carolina and Georgia, they are more African American than they are nationwide.
“And I think the real question here is, what does this mean for the electoral map because that’s what we’re all interested in and look folks, it’s just as tight as it can possibly be,” he added.
Enten presented an electoral map indicating that Harris would win 276 to 262 if polling in the Great Lakes states holds true. Given Trump’s history of outperforming swing state polls in 2016 and 2020, he is expected to perform better in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan than the current polls suggest.
WATCH:
Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign has been notable for many reasons—most unfortunately, for the two assassination attempts against him—but politically speaking, it stands out because of his willingness to embrace figures with different points of view.
Trump has managed to attract three former Democrats — billionaire Elon Musk, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the latter of whom ran for president as an Independent after his party shunned his candidacy in favor of anointing Vice President Kamala Harris as President Biden’s successor.
On Sunday, during Sharyl Attkisson’s syndicated show “Full Measure,” the anchor asked Trump if he had any “specific positions” in mind for the the trio of former Democrats should he manage to retake the White House following the November election.
“Three people, by the way, who were Democrats or, in the case of Musk, I don’t know, at least supported Democrats. What specific positions do you see them holding?” she asked.
Trump said that so far, he had not made a commitment to any of them, but he did praise RFK Jr.’s work to make the country healthier.
“I mean, he’s been fighting for this for years,” Trump said. “He looks at other countries where they don’t use chemicals, or they use much less than we use. And the people are healthier than they are in the United States, which is not that healthy a country.”
“Tulsi has always been good from the standpoint of common sense. She’s like a common sense person. I’ve watched her for a long time on shows. I’ve known her a little bit. And it was a great honor when we got her. She’s, you’re right. She was a Democrat and popular too, in Hawaii. And she will be, she will be terrific,” he added.
Attkisson then moved to question Trump about a potential administration role for Musk.
“Well, Elon is Elon. I mean, Elon is, he’s endorsed me very powerfully,” Trump said. “He feels this is the most important election we’ve ever had. And as you know, he probably has a couple of other things to do, but – ”
The anchor then interrupted to ask whether Musk would have a role in eliminating “government waste.”
“He’s a big cost cutter,” Trump said. “He is always been very good at it and I’m good at it.”
