CNN anchor Don Lemon asked one of his Tuesday guests directly whether or not she believed Democrats were headed for “a trouncing” in the fast-approaching 2022 midterm elections — and she said that yes, that was “the expectation.”
Lemon posed the question to Senior Political Analyst Kirsten Powers, noting that fellow guest Scott Jennings had pointed toward a dramatic shift in Republicans’ favor and asking whether she saw the same writing on the wall.
WATCH:
CNN's Don Lemon asks whether Democrats are heading for "a trouncing" in November. Survey says … "That is sort of the expectation." pic.twitter.com/gHsc8BN5X2
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) June 15, 2022
Jennings, responding to some of the data coming out of the Texas primary elections, said that the biggest story in his mind was the considerable shift away from President Joe Biden — and Democrats running in 2022 — among Hispanic voters across the country, but in Texas specifically.
“In terms of like larger macro political issues right now going on in this country — to me, tonight Texas 34,” Jennings said. “The movement of the Hispanic voters toward the Republican Party in that part of Texas, to me, is one of the biggest stories of the night. I know it is not quite final yet, but it’s a big deal.”
“What do you make of that? Do you see a trouncing, Kirsten? I think Scott is indicating there is going to be a trouncing of Democrats come midterms,” Lemon directed the question to Powers. “Do you agree with that?”
“Well, I think — that is sort of the expectation, and I think if we look at it given historically — we were all predicting quite some time ago even before Joe Biden’s approval ratings got to the point that they are that Democrats were going to have a hard time because historically that is what happens to the president’s party in the first midterm election,” Powers explained.
She went on to add that a number of issues had risen to the forefront that could complicate matters even further for Democrats — namely the fact that gas prices and inflation have effectively eclipsed all other issues in the minds of many Americans, and the Biden administration is unlikely to have much success in getting those under control before November, if at all.
“I think that a lot of things have now come together to make it even tougher terrain for Democrats because of what is happening with inflation,” she said. “You have the CNN polls showing that that is the number one issue with voters and they prefer Republicans by 20 points on that issue and it’s an issue that unfortunately Joe Biden doesn’t have a lot of control over and, so, you know, gas prices are high and that’s very tightly connected to the approval rating of the president. So yes, I think the expectation is that Democrats are not going to have a great midterm election.”