We know why it happened. The question now is whether congressional Republicans have what it takes to continue the trend.
In a clip posted Monday to the social media platform X, the excitable CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten, with his characteristically demonstrative hand gestures and changes in voice inflection, described new polling results that showed the Democratic Party’s historic “key advantage” in one crucial area has evaporated altogether.
Asked to identify the “party of the middle class,” poll respondents split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.
Now, on one hand, that result probably strikes many readers as absurd. After all, what have Democrats done in recent memory to benefit the middle class? Have they even tried to alter their identity as the party of coastal elites?
The astonishing trend to which Enten reacted, however, revealed massive change over time.
“Historically speaking,” the data analyst said, “[the question] ‘Which is the party of the middle class?’ has been a huge advantage for Democrats. I have polling from NBC going all the way back since 1989.”
Incredibly, in 1989 Democrats held a 23-point edge on the question of which party represented the middle class.
Even more incredibly, by 2016 Democrats still held a 17-point advantage on that question.
“But by this decade,” Enten said, “we already started seeing declines back in 2022 where you saw that Democrats led but only by four points, well within the margin of error.”
Will Republicans continue to build support among the middle class?
That decline has continued for the last three years.
“And now in our latest CNN poll among registered voters,” Enten added in a tone of astonishment, “which is the party of the middle class, it is tied?”
The data analyst regarded that result as particularly significant and ominous for Democrats.
“This, I think, speaks to Democratic ills more than anything else,” Enten continued. “They have traditionally been the party of the middle class. No more.”
Of course, Enten knew who deserved the credit for that development.
“[President] Donald Trump and the Republican Party have taken that mantle away,” the data analyst added. “And now a key advantage for Democrats historically has gone, ‘Adios, amigos.’ And now there is no party that is the party of the middle class. Republicans have completely closed the gap.”
Readers may view Enten’s comments and the polling data in the clip below. The relevant segment began around the 1:50 mark.
For decades, polls showed Dems had a double-digit edge on the party who looked out for/was the party of the middle class. Polls now show the GOP/Trump have totally eliminated that gap.
This comes as the GOP maintains a ~10 pt lead on the economy, after 4 months of Trump. pic.twitter.com/izIAv76IkB
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) June 2, 2025
The most eye-opening aspect of CNN’s polling data involves the change over time.
For instance, despite having re-elected President Ronald Reagan in a historic 1984 landslide, poll respondents five years later still gave Democrats a massive edge on the question of representing the middle class. In short, voters loved Reagan, but they did not love the Republican Party.
Likewise, as recently as 2016 Democrats had lost only six percentage points on that key polling question.
What changed? Obviously Trump came along, grabbed the Republican Party by the lapels, shook it, and dragged it — in some cases kicking and screaming — into a populist, America-first future.
That is the future for which we voted.
Now, imagine what congressional Republicans could achieve if they would only allow Trump to show them how to build a durable majority for the foreseeable future.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
