Name: Enten shows the 'most troublesome sign' for Trump, GOP midterms
Uploaded: 2026-03-19T16:42:12.000Z
Duration: 10 min 43 s
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This morning, prices at the pump, the national average up another 4 cents to 388 a gallon.

The comparative

That, of course, the price of gas, this is diesel right there, which is even more expensive.

But it gets to the prices that we're paying for everything.

The cost of living and the potential political impact.

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Etten.

So the president, how do voters see him on, on the issue of the cost of living and prices and how does it compare to, say, when he was elected?

You know, I would say that this is the most troublesome sign that I have seen for the president of the United States and the Republican Party so far.

Well, let's take a look here, Voters on Trump and the cost of living.

You go back when he was reelected back In October of 2024, he was beating Kamala Harris by three points on the cost of living.

Is net approval at a record low 41 points below water.

You can't win when you're at 41 points below water on the cost of living.

And I'm here to tell you that there's a better chance that I root for the New York Yankees than Donald Trump and the Republican Party winning when he's 41 points below water.

We could see even more gas prices rise and the prices go up in the coming days and weeks with the Iran war.

You think this 41 points below water is bad?

I mean, 60 points underwater when it comes to Trump and the cost of living among independents, again, a record low.

He was winning on this issue over Kamala Harris by 11 points.

That is a 71 point switcheroo in the wrong direction for Donald Trump when we're coming to the cost of living and independence.

And this, my dear friends, is just a political nightmare waiting to happen for the Republican Party come the midterm election.

Why do people really care about the cost of living?

Why was Donald Trump reelected back in 2024?

38% of Americans said it was so back in October of 2024.

If anything, it's point higher, though it's within the margin of error.

Simply put, I am saying this loud and proud.

You cannot win an election when you are the incumbent party and the top issue is the cost of living and you're the President of the United States and you're net approval rating on it is 41 points underwater.

I mean, you're with Greg Lou Ganis at this point and with independence, 60 points on the one.

You cannot win if you're the president and you're the Republican Party and you're not addressing this issue.

Your House majority and may very well be your Senate majority as well.

You're saying it loud, which is very unusual for you.

Let's talk about inflation and what the prediction markets are saying, what direction they see it going going forward.

You talk about 41 points underwater overall.

You know, when we're talking about what the prediction markets.

March's CPI year over year is above February's 2.4%.

95% chance that inflation rises in the month of March.

So you got the number one issue that is killing, killing the incumbent party, killing the President right now, and

it is going in the wrong direction with gas prices going higher.

Just, you know, I'm just going to lay back on my Yiddish.

By the way, they know the political cost of this could be going up soon, Harriet, and

We are tracking rising gas prices amid the war with Iran.

US Vice President J.D. vance addressed the climbing costs during an appearance in Michigan on Wednesday.

The President said this, and I certainly agree with it.

What happened under the Biden administration is the gas prices were high for four years.

frankly, they're not even as high as they were during certain parts of the Biden administration because of what's going on in the Middle East.

We've got, we've got a rough road ahead of us for the next few weeks, but it's temporary.

US gas prices have risen 86 cents per gallon on average since the start of the war.

And Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

In a bid to help offset those costs, Trump administration announced it is temporarily waiving the Jones act which will allow foreign flagships to transport oil and gas between US ports for the next 60 days.

The US Federal Reserve is predicting the disruption in the global energy markets will be relatively short lived, but

Fed Chair Jerome Powell says we just don't know how things are going to shake out.

What we do know is that interest rates will not be going down yet as expected.

The Fed voted to keep benchmark lending rates unchanged at 3 and a half and 3 and a quarters percent.

You can worry about all of the ways that oil, commodities, oil related commodities go into manufacturing, that kind of thing.

The truth is it's completely out of our hands and we just like everybody else, we have to just wait and see what happens and it'll be, it'll come down to how long, you know, the current situation lasts and then what are the effects of on prices and then how do consumers react and that kind of thing.

Really we, I wouldn't speculate in any way and there's really not a lot we can do other than kind of watch and see.

Powell went on to say that a rate cut won't happen until there's progress on inflation and the overall performance of the economy.

Ryan Patel, senior fellow with the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, joining us live here in Los Angeles.

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Enten shows the 'most troublesome sign' for Trump, GOP midterms

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