CNN Anchor Stunned By Poll On Trump And Jan. 6 Capitol Riot: ‘An Extraordinary Number!’

CNN anchor John Berman was stunned when CNN data Jedi Harry Enten revealed “an extraordinary number” involving opinions of President-elect Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 riot.

Vice President Kamala Harris will perform a function that, four years ago, led a mob to hunt then-Vice President Mike Pence through the Capitol grounds chanting for him to be hanged — certification of the 2024 election results.

But four years later, the January 6 riot has turned out to be a surmountable obstacle to Trump’s return to power, and Trump will be inaugurated for a second time in two weeks.

On Monday’s edition of CNN News Central, Enten ran through some stark polling data showing how shifting opinions about the riot helped propel Trump to victory — including the scant percentage who saw the attack as the “biggest memory” of Trump’s term:

JOHN BERMAN: Views on Donald Trump and his responsibility for January 6th have changed, including how people feel he should be perceived politically.

HARRY ENTEN: Yeah, I think that’s exactly right. You know, I think if you go back, you know, four years ago, right, Trump’s role on January 6th, 2021 should make him ineligible to be president. The clear majority of voters said yes, 56%, 56%. And that was including removal from office.

But of course, Donald Trump won the presidency. And part of the reason why was because views on Trump completely shifted, including Trump’s role on January 6th, 2021, should make him ineligible for the presidency.

By 2023, 2024. It was just 47%. So we saw this drop of about nine points. And that, of course, is all the difference in the world, going from a majority to short of a majority.

And of course, Donald Trump won the vast, vast, vast, vast, vast majority of the other 53% who did not believe that his role on January 6th would make him ineligible for the post.

JOHN BERMAN: Still a big number, but not enough–

HARRY ENTEN: Correct. This nine point shift was tremendous.

JOHN BERMAN: All right. Let’s talk about the why behind it.

HARRY ENTEN: Yeah. Why? All right. So part of the reason why is. Okay. Which Trump greatly responsible for the attack on the Capitol. You go back to January 20th, 21. It was 48% by the time of December of 2023.

Look at that again, a clear shift down to 37%. This is an eleven point drop, very much mirroring that drop that we saw that the folks at that, of course, would make him ineligible for the presidency. So that is part of the reason why. Right.

Folks, fewer folks thought he was responsible, greatly responsible for what happened on January 6th.

But it’s not just that. It’s that people, simply put, didn’t care as much about the attack on the Capitol. Look at this. January 6th is the biggest is your biggest memory of Trump’s first term in office. By the time of 2024. Look at this. Look at this. It was just 5%. Just 5% of Americans. And among Republicans, it was just 2%. So the bottom line is fewer Americans fault that Donald Trump or thought he was greatly responsible for the January 6th attack. And more than that, as it went into the rearview mirror, far fewer folks thought that it was their number one memory.

JOHN BERMAN: And this is an extraordinary number given that President Biden, when he was still in the election, was really putting this as his main issue–

HARRY ENTEN: Didn’t matter!

JOHN BERMAN: That never really was registering. All right. How about views of the results of the 2020 election, this four years later?

HARRY ENTEN: Yeah, you know, this I think says everything, right? Because part of the reason those folks attack the Capitol was because they thought incorrectly that the 2020 election results, in fact, did not reflect the view of the voters.

Votes were cast and counted accurately. GOP voters after a given election, just 31%, just 31% thought that about the 2020 election.

Look at this. It turns out when you win election, far more Republicans thought that the votes were cast and count accurately 94%. That is a 63 point jump, John. And that, of course, is why I think today will be mostly just business as normal.

Watch above via CNN News Central.