CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said Friday that he was surprised at poll results indicating that voters largely blame Democrats for the impending government shutdown.
The Senate reached a bipartisan agreement on a continuing resolution on Tuesday in an attempt to avoid a shutdown, but House Republicans have not reached an agreement on a continuing resolution to maintain funding until all appropriations bills are passed.
“What does the public think in terms of who is at fault,” host Poppy Harlow asked. “Who do they blame?” (RELATED: CNBC Host Confronts Dem Rep: ‘Bipartisan Doesn’t Mean Everything Democrats Want Becomes Law’)
“Yeah, I think this one was a bit of a surprise to me, given — I think — what the conventional wisdom is. So there have been a number of polls on this. ‘Who would you mainly blame for a government shutdown?’ Actually the plurality blamed Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress at 39 percent. The GOP in Congress at 33 percent. Both equally at 22,” Enten said.
“But at the two polls that I have seen when you combine Biden and the congressional Democrats, more voters blame them than blame Republicans in Congress. And that is very different than what we’ve seen in prior shutdowns. So who does the public blame for prior shutdowns? Republicans in ’95, ’96; Republicans in 2013 and Republicans in 2018, ’19. So this may be a shutdown that is quite different than that in terms of the public blame because, at least at this point, more Americans say they will blame Biden and/or the Democrats in Congress.”
Federal funding is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. EST on Saturday.