The economy & inflation: Harry Enten breaks down public opinion

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: So this morning, as President Trump insists, continues to insist, the economy is booming and that prices are falling, there is new polling out that shows that people are still not feeling that and are pessimistic about where things are headed. CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Anton, has much more on this. He's been digging into it. What do you see in these numbers? [00:00:18] Harry Anton: Yeah, you know, Donald Trump was elected to solve the economic crisis, to solve the pricing crisis. But at this particular point, these numbers are going in the complete wrong direction. On the economy, the country is going on the wrong track, the right track. You go back to January, these numbers were pretty split, right? 43% said wrong track, 36% said right track, right when Donald Trump came in office. But look at that. That wrong track number has skyrocketed up to 56%, my goodness gracious, who say that the country, at least when it comes to the economy, is on the wrong track. And that right track number, Kate Baldwin, has fallen to 29%. So what was a single-digit spread has ballooned up to a 27-point spread in the negative direction. The bottom line is this. Donald Trump is trying to spin a narrative, and the American people aren't buying the spin that is coming out of the White House. [00:01:05] Speaker 1: Now, in these new numbers, what is driving the pessimism? [00:01:09] Harry Anton: Yeah, what is driving the pessimism? I mean, we've done a bunch of segments on this, and we're going to continue to do segments on this when polling, like what came out yesterday from NBC News, continues to show it. Top economic concern for you and your family. Look at this. Number one, we've said it over and over again, 44%. 44% say inflation. I looked at the second one on it. Look at that. It's all the way back at 9% taxes and take-home pay. It's inflation overwhelmingly driving this economic pessimism. And I will tell you this, until the economy, until the American people think that inflation is under control, they will continue to have pessimistic feelings about the economy because inflation is numero uno by a wide, wide margin in driving this economic pessimism. [00:01:54] Speaker 1: Setting aside the president on this, how does this look party versus party? [00:01:58] Harry Anton: Yeah, okay. So I think this is the key thing, right, because oftentimes they'll say, hey, look, you know, we're blaming the president, but we've seen some polling in which Republicans still lead Democrats. But take a look here. Party trusted more on rising prices. Back in October of 2022, before that midterm election, it was Republicans trusted more by 14 points. You come now, it's a completely different tune. Now Democrats are trusted more by four points. So it's not just the president that the American people are turning on when it comes to inflation. It is, in fact, the Republican Party as well, a massive shift to the left towards the Democratic Party. [00:02:34] Speaker 1: Where are the prediction markets on all this? [00:02:35] Harry Anton: Okay, so here's, I think, the key question going forward is, is inflation going to get any better? And this is a great chance to use prediction markets. Chance November's CPI year-over-year report equals or is above the previous 3.0%, 80%. The bottom line is this. There is no relief in sight. At this point, it looks like inflation will remain at a level that the American people think is unacceptable. [00:02:59] Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, no one believes that there's any relief in sight, that's for sure. Yeah. Harry, thank you so much. Thank you, Kate. And there is a lot of breaking news we're following. We'll be right back. [00:03:09] Speaker 3: As the second Trump administration nears its one-year mark, new polls underscore that Americans are not happy with what they're getting. And maybe they're ready to take it out on the GOP. The new NBC News poll found that President Trump's approval is just 42%, but it gets worse for his party. A majority, 53%, now say they trust Democrats over Republicans to handle rising prices. It's pretty stunning considering that Democrats were driven from power just last year, in large part because of the issue of the economy. Now, the president isn't ready to admit really any of the economic woes. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he said, quote, I've created the greatest economy in history, but it may take people a while to figure all these things out. My panel is back now. Kristen, is it just that he is absolutely convinced he can convince people that what they're feeling isn't what they're feeling? Or does he not see that people are very tepid on his economy? [00:04:35] Speaker 4: So I would say that it's both, but also a third part of this, which is what he is going through right now is exactly what President Biden and his administration were talking about when he was running against him in 2024, which is you get the upper hand if you're not in office. You get to say, I can fix the economy. The Biden administration was going around saying, look at all these policies that we've put in place. Just be patient. It's going to take effect. Things are changing. The economy is shifting in the right direction. People only care about one thing. When they go to CVS, when they go to the grocery store, when they pull out their credit card, how much does this cost them? And are they going to be able to afford the other things that they need to get through the day? The problem is the person in power is the one who gets blamed if they feel like it's too expensive. So President Trump is out there. He does believe that he's the best messenger, that he can convince people it's going to get better or it's already better. You just don't know it yet. But I will say in that same Wall Street Journal interview, he said that some of his policies might not actually impact people or be helpful enough by the midterm elections, meaning Republicans would lose. [00:05:40] Speaker 3: And then he has events that don't necessarily – the imagery and what people say and the kind of people who say the things at his events don't necessarily comport with the way people are feeling, put it that way. I'm going to go to – I'm going to go to you on this since you are a golf aficionado. Bryson Duchesneau was at the White House on Sunday. Here's what he said. [00:06:08] Speaker 5: It's the greatest economy that we've ever had. And just to be serving on the President's Council of Sports, Fitness and Nutrition has been such an honor. And the First Lady looks so beautiful, by the way. And I'll say cheers to the greatest economy that we've had in a long, long time. [00:06:27] Speaker 3: Says the $100 million name. [00:06:29] Speaker 6: Yeah, exactly. You know, he's the live golfer who got gobs and gobs and gobs of money to go leave the PGA Tour to play and live golf. So perhaps not the best person to talk to the everyman who may be feeling the economic pain here. But to Christian's point, look, presidents oftentimes get the disproportionate share of the blame or credit for how the economy is going. The difference with Trump is that his tariff policy has been so heavy handed with a tariff policy that is very easy for Americans to connect tariffs with prices and how they're feeling back home. And that is going to be a real challenge for them to message as we head into the midterms. [00:07:04] Speaker 3: And in the short term, the really short term, connected to the affordability is the question of the health care costs and premiums, support for premiums that are about to run out. Senator Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, was on with me yesterday trying, he said, to find a deal so that people don't get hurt. [00:07:27] Speaker 7: There is a deal that could be made. Why don't we do both? Let's go ahead and not give the profit to the insurance company, but the protection to the patient by giving them an access to an account, a wallet, a purse, a pocketbook, if you will, that would have up to pick your family. $1,000 to $5,000 to pay those initial expenses, but also do something on the premiums with maybe a temporary extension of the enhanced premium tax credits to address it for some, those who really have high expenses. [00:08:00] Speaker 8: Everything he just laid out does not look like it's going to actually get done. It looks like folks are going to leave town and that this is going to go off the cliff for Americans and their premiums are going to go up. [00:08:11] Speaker 3: I wish we had some good news to report.