Trump's popularity remains strong after primaries in Ohio and Indiana heading toward 2026 midterms

Harry Enten.

Follow Trump, Republican voters are telling politicians who are in office or running for elected office. That's according to CNN polling guru Harry Enten, who explained Trump's enduring appeal with the Republican base in the wake of Tuesday's primary races in Ohio and Indiana.

At least six state senators who opposed Trump on congressional map redistricting in Indiana lost primary elections on Tuesday. In Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, who was backed by Trump, won the GOP nomination in the governor's race with a whopping 82% of the vote on Tuesday. If those numbers aren't compelling enough, Enten dug into Trump's polling numbers among Republicans during a segment on CNN Thursday to drive home the point.

According to the latest polling, 75% of Republicans who were surveyed responded that the party leaders should follow Trump, an overwhelming majority. In contrast, at the same point of Joe Biden's first and only term as president, 57% of Democrat voters said the party should follow Biden. 

Enten said he's breaking down the polling numbers to dispel what he described has become a "myth" that Trump is losing support from Republicans. In fact, Trump's support from Republicans at this stage of his second term is almost identical to what it was at this point in 2018 when it stood at 85%. Today, that figure stands at 84%.

"He's just as popular with Republicans as he's ever been" in terms of midterm cycles, Ented pointed out, underscoring a point he made last month about how Trump's popularity with Republicans far outpaces that of Tucker Carlson's. Carlson has recently turned against Trump over his vehement disagreement with the Iran war, but his harsh criticism of Trump has done nothing to dent the president's popularity with the party's base.

The analysis of Trump's strong polling numbers comes a few days after a new poll showed that, by and large, most Americans believe the U.S. is winning the war with Iran. That poll showed 74% of Americans think the U.S. is winning, with the breakdown revealing that 60% of Democrats view it that way and 91% of Republicans see the U.S. as winning. 

In terms of what that means for the coming midterm elections, "When you're a Republican and you go against Trump, you get voted off the island," Enten said, noting that he's a big fan of the game show Survivor. Watch the full segment below.