CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten revealed on Wednesday that presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is struggling to gain traction among young voters despite a recent influx of internet memes.
Referencing CNN exit polls, Enten noted that President Biden won voters under the age of 35 by 21 points in 2020, but Harris is leading former President Trump by "significantly less" as of Sunday (9 points).
He said that Harris may be doing better than Biden among young voters before announcing he would not run for re-election. However, her numbers are still "way down" from many other Democrats in the 21st century.
"If this is unique support among young voters, I would like to know what her non-unique support is. Is it even worse than this?" Enten said.
He also showed another poll that displayed how motivated Democrats were to vote after Biden left the race.
Overall, 39% of Democrats said they would be more motivated to vote, while 55% said they were not.
However, among Democrats between the ages of 18 and 29, 42% said yes, and 49% said no.
"This idea, again, that the vice president has unique potential to dig in and get young voters to turn out—John, it's just not there in the numbers despite all the internet memes that are going around," Enten told anchor John Berman.
Enten on Tuesday pulled out several polls demonstrating that Trump's national approval rating is higher than ever during his time in politics, and that beating him in November will be a challenge for Harris if she faces him.
"Yes, Democrats can make this switcheroo, but they're still going to have to beat Donald Trump, a Donald Trump who is stronger, Sara, than he has ever been before," he told anchor Sara Sidner.
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The network's data guru pointed to two recent national polls Tuesday morning, one from ABC/Ipsos and one from Quinnipiac University, showing the former president's popularity as it stands following the Republican National Convention last week.
"We know that Donald Trump has historically been unpopular, but take a look now," he began. "After the Republican National Convention, in the ABC News/Ipsos poll, he recorded his highest ever favorable rating at 40%. That's not a one-off."
Enten later provided a warning for Harris, who became the presumptive Democratic Party nominee following Biden suspending his campaign over the weekend.
"Kamala Harris is going to have to do better than this, of course, if she wants to win the popular vote, but more than that, if she wants to win the electoral college where she'll likely have to outperform how she's done nationally," the reporter added, though he did acknowledge that there hasn't been national polling on Harris since Biden ditched his bid over the weekend.
