‘Weak! Weak! Weak!’ CNN Hits Trump With Bad News on ‘Shrinking’ Popular Vote Win — ‘Trump World Thrilled We Said It Out Loud’
CNN anchor John Berman and senior data reporter Harry Enten twisted the knife on the “shrinking” margin of President-elect Donald Trump’s popular vote victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, with Berman sarcastically noting “I’m sure Trump world is thrilled we just said (that) out loud!”
The political world was stunned by Trump’s surprisingly decisive victory in the presidential election, but as days go by the size of that victory is narrowing, leading some to question the strength of Trump’s “mandate.”
With additional votes counted, Trump has now dipped below 50 percent, and his lead is down to 1.7 percent.
On Monday morning’s edition of CNN News Central, Berman teased the story with a wisecrack, and Enten deployed a “Weak! Weak! Weak!” quote to describe the win:
JOHN BERMAN: Here’s a trivia question for you. What are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have in common? The answer: Their popular vote victories are really similar.
In fact, as of right now, it looks like Hillary Clinton’s popular vote victory in 2016 is bigger than Donald Trump’s popular victory victory in 2024– Something I’m sure Trump world is thrilled we just said out loud!
With me now, CNN senior, very senior.
HARRY ENTEN: Very senior.
JOHN BERMAN: Data reporter, Harry Enten. Look, it is not common lately for Republicans to win the popular vote and the Electoral College votes.
HARRY ENTEN: Correct.
JOHN BERMAN: So Trump has something to celebrate there. But look, his popular vote margin is shrinking.
HARRY ENTEN: Yeah, the case that Trump’s mandate isn’t all that. Look, if you look historically speaking, Donald Trump is now under 50% in the national popular vote, barely under 50%, but he is under 50%. I want to take a look and compare it. Compare his popular vote victory to those historically speaking over the last 200 years. His popular vote victory ranks 44th out of 51. That ain’t exactly strong. Some might argue that is “Weak! Weak! Weak!” in the words of Tony Blair.
In fact, his popular vote win at this point is the weakest, going all the way back to, you have to go all the way back to 2000 to find a weaker one, a smaller popular vote victory than Donald Trump currently has. So, yeah, Trump has won the popular vote. But it ain’t all that my dear friend, John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN: George W Bush had a bigger popular vote in 2004, and if you’re looking at a combination of popular vote and Electoral College vote, look, Obama twice.
HARRY ENTEN: Correct.
JOHN BERMAN: Had had bigger popular vote and Electoral College vote victories.
HARRY ENTEN: And Joe Biden did as well.
JOHN BERMAN: Joe Biden’s popular vote is twice as big Electoral College victory, a little smaller.
Watch above via CNN News Central.
