CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten stated on Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris’ support among Black and Hispanic voters is “significantly” weaker than President Joe Biden’s was at the same time in the 2020 election.
According to a Monday New York Times/Siena College Poll, former President Donald Trump is currently ahead of Harris in diverse sunbelt states like Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina. On “CNN News Central,” Enten pointed out that while Harris has improved her standing with white voters compared to Biden’s performance, she is trailing Biden’s earlier lead among Black and Hispanic voters.
🚨 CNN’s Harry Enten reports great news for Trump in swing states! Trump is now leading Harris by 5 points in AZ, 4 points in GA, and 3 points in NC—significantly better than his 2020 performance. pic.twitter.com/t4psz6jzdU
— Next News Network 🇺🇲 (@NextNewsNetwork) September 24, 2024
“Look, Kamala Harris is up by 66 points among Black voters. That is up from where Joe Biden was earlier this year, right, when he got out of the race he was up by 51 points over Donald Trump. But this 66-point lead is way lower than that 80-point lead that Joe Biden had over Donald Trump at this point in the 2020 cycle. It’s 14 points lower,” Enten explained. “So the bottom line is, yes, Joe Biden was really struggling with Black voters. Harris has climbed up a little bit, but she’s not anywhere near the level that Joe Biden was at this point, just four years ago.”
He also commented on Harris’ lead among Hispanic voters, noting a similar trend. “Kamala Harris is ahead by 15 points. That’s certainly significantly better than Joe Biden was doing just a few months ago when it was a seven point advantage. But again, look at this, this 15 point advantage that Harris has is significantly less than Joe Biden was doing at this point years ago,” he said. “It’s only about half that number, my goodness, gracious, right? So we’re again, we’re seeing that double-digit shift from where we were four years ago at this point, not just among Black voters, but Hispanic voters as well. Kamala Harris is doing better than Joe Biden was doing earlier this year, but not anywhere near as well as he was doing four years ago.”
Enten highlighted that Harris’ current support among Black and Hispanic voters is “really not very good” compared to Biden’s. “You’re wondering to yourself, how the heck is Kamala Harris so competitive in this race? And this is where it gets really interesting. This really racial dynamic, racial polarization decreasing because look among white voters… Look at this, Trump is ahead, but by eight points,” he noted. “That is significantly lower than Trump’s lead was at the end of the 2020 campaign when it was a 14 point advantage and it’s even lower than it was at this point back in 2020 when it was a nine point advantage for Donald Trump.”
Enten concluded, “So what’s essentially going on here is that Kamala Harris is able to make up the sort of lower standing that she has among Black and Hispanic voters by doing significantly better than Joe Biden did four years ago in the final tally, among white voters.” Harris is currently leading Trump slightly in the whiter rust belt swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to RealClearPolitics averages.
