CNN data: 92% of pure independents slam Trump on gas prices

CNN’s numbers guy put it in language you don’t usually hear on cable news: Donald Trump’s standing with pure independents is in the “deep depths of hell.”

The graphic that went viral Wednesday is blunt. Among pure independents on Trump’s handling of gas prices — an average of CNN/SSRS and Marquette Law School polling — 8% approve and 92% disapprove.

“Yes. This is real. Feel free to fact check. The poll results were released today,” posted commentator Breck Worsham (@ImBreckWorsham), sharing the on-air board from CNN’s Harry Enten.

Breck Worsham on X: CNN Enten graphic — pure independents on Trump gas prices (8% approve / 92% disapprove)

Enten told CNN’s John Berman the swing among independents is the kind of move that decides midterms. Trump won independents by about 15 points against Kamala Harris in 2024. Now his net approval with that group sits around −71, an 86-point shift. On the economy alone, Enten described a move from roughly +22 among independents to −77 — nearly a 100-point collapse.

What’s driving it? Gas.

“It’s gas prices. It’s gas prices,” Enten said. “Look at this: pure independents on gas prices and Trump. Just 8% — just 8% — approve. Look at this: 92% — 92% — of pure independents disapprove of Donald Trump on gas prices… Near uniformity.”

That tracks with the broader CNN poll conducted by SSRS (Sept. 16–17, 1,206 adults). Trump’s overall job approval sits at about one-third. Only 27% approve of him on the economy (down 22 points from comparable 2018 numbers). Just 20% approve of his handling of inflation. Two-thirds of Americans say he has worsened economic conditions. Most call higher gas prices a household hardship, and few believe he has a plan to fix it.

Republicans feel it too: half disapprove of Trump on inflation, and nearly 6 in 10 say the Iran war has hurt their own finances.

A separate Marquette Law School national poll (Sept. 2–9) likewise found Trump underwater on the economy, the Iran war, gas prices, and inflation — each below 30% approval — while Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot among likely voters 54% to 41%.

NPR/PBS News/Marist, also out today, shows Democrats ahead 53–41 on the generic ballot, with independents preferring Democrats by 25 points. Voters give Democrats the edge on the economy and gas prices; on gas, independents favor Democrats by about 26 points.

The political math is simple. Pure independents usually swing elections. Right now they are nearly unanimous against Trump on the price at the pump — and that is the number Republicans running in November have to stare at.