Kathrine Frich
The analyst described the milestone as “another unwanted record” for the White House
Every politician loves to brag about making history.
Breaking records usually looks great on a campaign poster, especially with a major election right around the corner.
Sometimes, though, the numbers tell a story that a leader would much rather forget.
Pain at the pump
By Wednesday, October 14, President Donald Trump had officially set a new national milestone. According to CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten, the US has now logged more days with average gas prices above $4 a gallon in a single calendar year than ever before.
Drawing on tracking data from AAA and GasBuddy, the network analyst pointed out that this new mark passes the previous record set under former President Joe Biden back in 2022.
“Perhaps one he should not be proud of,” Enten said on CNN. “Not so much congratulations for you.”
For a sitting president, expensive fuel is political poison. Enten described the milestone as “another unwanted record” for the White House, warning that the high cost of filling up a tank will hurt the party in power. “So we are dealing with an absolute backbreaker for Republicans who are running nationwide,” he added.
War drags numbers down
Behind the scenes, voters are connecting those painful gas and diesel prices directly to foreign policy. As reported by HuffPost Trump is now months into an unpopular war of choice in Iran, and the ongoing conflict has sent energy costs soaring.
The fallout is showing up clearly in voter surveys. Looking at an aggregate of polls, Enten noted that Trump’s net approval rating has plunged from negative 12 to negative 22 percentage points since the fighting began.
“It’s just a crusher,” the data expert said, pointing out that no other president has suffered a steeper drop heading into the midterm elections. Among independent voters, the picture is even worse, with Trump’s net rating sliding from negative 32 before the war down to negative 45.
Midterms in play
“It is a killer for a president who’s trying to hang in there and avoid lame-duck status,” Enten explained on the broadcast. “These are the types of numbers that lead to lame-duck status.”
Meanwhile, the opposition party is gaining ground. According to CNN’s polling average on generic US House ballots, Democrats held a 5-point lead over Republicans before the Iran conflict started, and that advantage has now widened to a 9-point edge.
Because of recent redistricting changes that redrew voting maps across the country, Enten noted that Democrats need to win the national popular vote by roughly 4 points to flip control of the House. With their current lead sitting at double that margin, the party is in a strong position to take over the chamber.
