CNN's Harry Enten reveals that JD Vance is the first vice presidential nominee to have a negative favorability rating after a convention.
CNN's senior data reporter, Harry Enten, has made a groundbreaking revelation that JD Vance, the running mate of former President Donald Trump, has the lowest net favorability rating ever for a vice presidential pick. This unprecedented development has left political analysts and observers reeling.
"I have gone all the way back since 1980. He is the first guy after—immediately following a convention, a VP pick, who actually had a net negative favorability rating. That is underwater," Enten stated.
JD Vance Makes History with Record-Low Favorability Rating for VP Pick
The significance of Vance's low favorability rating cannot be overstated. Since 2000, the average net favorability rating for a VP nominee has been a positive 19 points. Vance's negative rating stands out as an aberration that has never been witnessed before.
"JD Vance, making history in the completely wrong way," Enten remarked with a hint of irony.
JD Vance Makes History with Record-Low Favorability Rating for VP Pick
Trump's decision to choose Vance as his running mate has been met with widespread criticism, further exacerbating the senator's unfavorable image. Vance, who hails from Ohio, a state that Trump comfortably carried in the 2016 and 2020 elections, was expected to boost the former president's support among working-class Democrats.
However, Enten has refuted this assumption, citing Vance's narrow margin of victory in his 2022 Ohio senate race. In contrast, Trump won Ohio by a wider margin of 8 points in 2020, and Republican Governor Mike DeWine secured an overwhelming 25-point victory in the state.
JD Vance Makes History with Record-Low Favorability Rating for VP Pick
Vance's initial opposition to Trump in 2016 also casts a shadow over his current alliance with the former president. At the time, Vance had expressed disdain for Trump, dismissing him as "cultural heroin" and predicting that he would lead the working class into a "very dark place."
Vance's stance has since softened, and he now claims to have been proven wrong about Trump's presidency. "I was wrong about him," Vance told CNN in May. "I didn't think he was going to be a good president. And I was very, very proud to be proven wrong. It's one of the reasons why I'm working so hard to get him elected."
Trump echoed Vance's sentiments in a recent interview with Fox News, dismissing their past disagreements as a misunderstanding. "Originally, JD was probably not for me, but he didn't know me," Trump said. "And then when we got to know each other, he liked me maybe more than anybody liked me."
Despite Trump's optimistic assessment, Vance's low favorability rating remains a significant hurdle for the former president's 2024 campaign. The senator's negative image could alienate potential voters and undermine Trump's efforts to regain the White House.
