Enten: UK PM Starmer less popular than any US president ever

[0:00] The king of England is set to visit the United States today. The British head of state will not face British voters ever. You judge the merits of that for yourself. Things are different though for the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Way different here now. CNN chief data analyst Harry Etten. Things not so good for Keir Starmer right now. You think things are bad here in the United States. Why don't you just go across the pond over to the UK because things are just downright atrocious over there for Keir Starmer. Just take a look here. [0:30] Britain's satisfied with Keir Starmer. Overall 18. 18%. You can't even drink or smoke anymore when you're 18%. You're below that line. That's not good. How about his own party? The voters who voted him in back in 2024. Less than 50% of Labour Party voters back in 2024 actually are satisfied with the job that Keir Starmer is doing. When less than 50% of your own party voters are satisfied with what is shaken, you know you're in bad, bad shape. [1:00] It's wildly unpopular right now. How does it compare to something in American history? [1:04] Okay, so you see this 18% right here and I just went to myself, hmm, I'm not sure I've ever seen a US leader so unpopular. So I went back through the record books and I said, okay, popularity ratings and I was like, who was the worst ever, the lowest ever? And that was George W. Bush back in 2008. He came in in one poll with a 20% approval rating. [1:24] Well, I got news for you. 20% is low, but it's higher than 18%. Keir Starmer is less popular right now than the least popular American president ever. He is somehow less popular and Richard Nixon, of course, was coming in at about 24% just before he resigned office. [1:43] So Keir Starmer is less popular than Richard Nixon was when he was forced out by Watergate. Keir Starmer, a very unpopular man. A lot of people want to put a lot of things in their tea when they look at Keir Starmer over in the UK. [1:54] This is historically unpopular. What does history tell us about British prime ministers who are maybe not even this unpopular? [2:00] Yeah, okay. So I went back through the history books, right? And I feel like all these British prime ministers have had some massive popularity issues, perhaps not as bad as Keir Starmer. UK prime ministers with his ratings as bad as Keir Starmer's, all of them lost or resigned before the next election. [2:15] That is their party loss in, of course, the parliamentary elections. So Keir Starmer being this unpopular, he'll try and climb out of that hall, climb that ladder, but that ladder is going nowhere. [2:25] He is on a highway to political health. And again, so what are the prediction markets saying about whether he will last? And we should note, this isn't being voted out necessarily. [2:35] Correct. This is probably, you know, possibly another outcome. Correct. But essentially, it could just be that he resigns office and there's another Labour prime minister. Okay, so take a look here. Chance Starmer's out of power by the end of August. Whoops, this slide, I will now note is to 62%. 62% right now. I was just looking at the latest data. [2:55] So the bottom line is this, Keir Starmer in massive political problems right now. Chances are, based upon history, he will either be forced out by the end of August, maybe his own party says we've had enough, or the voters will in fact force him out by the end of, let's say, this term when we actually have the next general election. [3:15] Right. By the end of August could be a long, hot, uncomfortable summer for Keir Starmer. [3:18] And I tell you, there's not a lot of AC over there in Europe, so it could be really difficult. [3:22] This historic, monumental visit, which has been billed as an opportunity to improve relationships between the UK and the US, which have been strained as of late, of course, Kate, because of President Trump's disagreements with Prime Minister Keir Starmer here over this country's engagement in the Iran war. [3:38] So this is a really sensitive time, and in just a few hours, King Charles will be wading into that, of course, with the Queen. [3:45] They will arrive at Joint Base Andrews, and then they will go straight to the White House, where they're going to be met by their host, President Trump and the First Lady. [3:53] They'll have a private tea. They'll have a garden party later on today. [3:57] But the main event, the crux of the event, will all take place tomorrow. [4:01] That's when King Charles is going to address Congress. [4:03] The last time this was done was in 1990s, when his mother, the Queen, addressed Congress. [4:08] So this is really historic, really important opportunity to speak to lawmakers. [4:13] He's also going to be treated to a formal welcome ceremony at the White House. [4:17] And what really stood out, of course, just given the events of the last 24 hours with the White House Correspondents' Dinner, [4:24] is how quickly Buckingham Palace reacted and responded by saying, yes, the visit will go on as planned. [4:31] Yes, the King will carry on as normal. [4:33] And that was something that was praised by President Trump in interviews afterwards. [4:38] He described the King as his friend. [4:40] He said he looked forward to the state visit. [4:41] He ensured that he would be safe during this four-day state visit. [4:46] And it shows, again, a sense of commitment from the King that he went ahead and had that statement issued just hours again after the event from Buckingham Palace. [4:55] The remaining two days will include a visit to New York, where he will be meeting with responders and survivors of 9-11. [5:03] It will be a memorial ceremony as well. [5:05] And then he'll be on to Virginia. [5:07] Now, there's a lot of opportunities here for goodwill. [5:10] There's going to be a state dinner where President Trump's going to be giving a speech as well. [5:14] A lot of positive chances, but there's also a lot of possibility for some mess-ups here as well, King. [5:20] The president is, if anything, unpredictable. [5:23] He has had that spat with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. [5:26] There is the issue, of course, of the Epstein file, something that his brother, the king's brother, is currently embroiled in investigation. [5:34] So this is going to absolutely be a tightrope act for the monarch. [5:38] The backdrop of this visit, of course, politically comes at an awkward time, to say the least, between the United States and the U.K., all over the war with Iran. [5:49] President Trump, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, their relations have frayed somewhat. [5:54] President Trump recently comparing him to Neville Chamberlain. [5:58] I wonder if you think officials in Britain are hoping that this visit between the king, who gets along with President Trump pretty well, helps to mend some of these disagreements. [6:11] Oh, that's absolutely what the plan is and why the British government wanted this visit to happen in the first place. [6:21] It's not working on the political side of things, so they are sending in the king with his soft power that has been shown time and time again. [6:31] The British monarchy's soft power can be very, very influential when it comes to world leaders. [6:38] And yes, President Trump happens to be a huge fan of the monarchy and, of course, of King Charles himself. [6:46] He has showered him with praise, called him a great man. [6:50] He's very excited about this visit. [6:53] And even President Trump himself has said that he does believe this state visit will help fix the divide between the U.K. and the U.S. [7:04] So we'll have to see if it works. [7:06] If you could talk to us about the backdrop, the background, the relationship between Trump and the king, because they go back quite a ways. [7:14] Yeah, they do go back quite a ways. [7:18] So 2005, back in New York, when the king was Prince Charles and he came over for an official visit, not a state visit. [7:28] This is his first state visit. [7:30] And he happened to meet Donald Trump and Melania at a reception. [7:37] But, yeah, over the years, they have had interactions. [7:43] And, of course, with Prince Charles, former Prince Charles now being King Charles, he did invite Trump over for his unprecedented second state visit. [7:54] They pulled out all the pomp and pageantry that we have not even seen in recent modern times to woo Trump. [8:05] The U.K. government understanding that Trump is very responsive to this type of ceremony and this type of pageantry. [8:14] But President Trump himself does look at King Charles as a friend. [8:19] Again, he heaps a lot of praise upon him. [8:23] He has deep respect for him. [8:24] He's very excited about this visit. [8:27] He can't wait to meet with King Charles in private. [8:32] He's already told us he wants to talk to the king about NATO, about the Iran war, about the U.K.'s digital services tax, which Trump's not very happy about. [8:43] But that goes to show how much respect he has for the king. [8:49] And it's quite unusual, actually, to hear a president get very specific about the issues and world issues that he wants to discuss with a British monarch.