CNN data analyst Harry Enten said recent polling suggests Democrats are in a weaker position on immigration and border security than they were during President Donald Trump’s first term, despite high-profile events over the past year.

During a segment with anchor John Berman, Enten pointed to survey data indicating that Republicans now hold the advantage on immigration-related issues.

“This, I think, is so important to note, after all the events in Los Angeles, after all the events in Minneapolis, after all the events of the last year on immigration, can Democrats actually take advantage on this issue?” Enten said.

“And a look at the polling suggests Actually no. They’re in a worse position, in a worse position than they were at this point during Donald Trump’s first term.”

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Enten referenced comparative polling from 2018 and the current political landscape.

“Take a look here, trust which party more on immigration? In 2018 Democrats had an edge of about six points,” Enten said.

“You come over to this side of the screen. Now look at that. Republicans are the ones who have actually have an edge on immigration.”

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He added that the broader narrative about Democrats benefiting from immigration debates does not match the data.

“So this whole idea that Democrats are going to be able to take advantage of the immigration group, of the immigration issue actually doesn’t bear itself out in the polling, despite everything that’s been going on, in fact, Democrats are in worse position than they were during Donald Trump’s first term,” Enten said.

Berman summarized the dynamic between voter dissatisfaction and party preference.

“Yeah, maybe they don’t like what Donald Trump, the president, is doing, but they don’t think Democrats will do a better job,” Berman said.

“Correct,” Enten responded. “They think Democrats will do a worse job on immigration than Republicans.”

The conversation then shifted to border security specifically.

“All right. What about border security in general?” Berman asked.

“Okay, border security in general. So this is immigration at large. What about border security? Look at this. Look at these numbers. Hello,” Enten said.

“Party trusted more on border security, again, at this point Trump’s terms. Look at this. In 2018 Republicans had a 13 point advantage. If anything, the advantage is a little bit larger. Now, Republicans up by 15 points.”

Enten argued that the combined polling on immigration and border enforcement suggests Republicans are better positioned politically on the issue.

“So when you put it all together, you put immigration with border security and the idea that Democrats were able to take the ball and run away on it. The polling data suggests, no, no, no,” he said.

“This is actually an issue that Republicans should be more comfortable running on than Democrats. Democrats running on immigration may actually be to the Republicans advantage.”

Berman then asked how President Trump’s standing compares with that of former President Joe Biden.

“What about when you compare President Trump with former President Biden?” Berman asked.

“Yeah. Okay, so you know, we speak about President Trump’s approval rating right on immigration not being as high as it once was, but I’ll tell you, who the heck it’s a lot higher than at this point his term. And that’s the predecessor, Joe Biden,” Enten said.

“Look at this approval on immigration at this point in presidency, Biden was at just 34% Donald Trump looks a whole heck of a lot better when you compare him to the alternative at 45% and this, I think, is the big takeaway from this segment, which is you can’t just look at something in isolation. You have to compare it to the alternative.”

Enten concluded that the comparison favors Republicans and President Trump.

“And in this particular case, when you take a look at immigration and you compare Republicans the alternative Democrats, this is an issue that Republicans should really like, and President Trump should like the comparison to Joe Biden,” he said.

Berman noted that Republican support may not be as high as in previous cycles but acknowledged the relative standing.

“It’s interesting. It may be that it’s not as bad as a lot of people would like to think for Democrats, but it might be. It might the Republicans may not be as high as they were a couple years ago, correct?” Berman said.

“They’re not necessarily as high as they were during Joe Biden’s term, but they are much higher than they were during what I think is the correct comparison, which is during Donald Trump’s first term,” Enten replied.

“Very good Harry Enten, and thank you very much for that explanation,” Berman said.

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