Donald Trump’s approval rating is currently higher than former President Joe Biden’s when it comes to crime, CNN’s senior political data reporter has revealed. In fact, the gap between the two was so big, Harry Enten used a Michael Jordan analogy to convey how the conservative was leagues above his predecessor when it came to their handling of the issue

‘I think this sort of gives the game away here, because Donald Trump is like Air Jordan towering over Joe Biden when it comes to their handling of crime,’ Enten said on Thursday’s NewsCentral, referring to the iconic Nike sneakers named after the basketball star. The data-driven sermon came days after Trump’s federal takeover of the police force in Washington DC over a disturbing slew of violent crimes in the capital.

The figures showed Trump’s net approval rating for crime sitting at +1 for his second term as of August, in contrast to the -13 he secured during his first. Biden, after one term, had a favorability of -26 points. Enten could not help but marvel at the 27 point gap between the two. ‘I think that Democrats have to get it around their heads that Americans are far more hawkish on crime than they think that are,’ he told Dana Bash.

‘Where was he last year? He was way underwater at minus 13 points,’ Enten continued. ‘Americans view Trump far more favorably now on crime than they did a year ago.’ ‘ Crime is one of Trump’s best issues. It’s one of the reasons why he wants to talk about crime because it favors him.’

Enten then explained how the poll did not take into account ‘what’s exactly happening in DC right now,’ but was still conducted after Trump deployed the National Guard to quash protests against ICE in LA. ‘And Americans, for the most part, actually view Trump favorably,’ Enten said, speaking from a national perspective.

‘It’ll be very interesting when you can see polling that what’s happening right now settling in,’ Bash, the network’s chief political correspondent, observed. Enten responded with the ‘Air Jordan analogy,’ using it to convey what he saw as a clear consensus from Americans across the country ‘Americans vastly prefer Donald Trump’s approach to crime than they did to Joe Biden’s,’ he concluded, ogling the 27 point gap.

‘And again, I think it gets back to the point that Americans are far more hawkish on crime than a lot of Democrats want to admit.’ Enten added how Biden’s score served as a reminder that crime was ‘one’ of the Democrat’s ‘worst issues.’ ‘Granted, pretty much every issue was one of Biden’s worst issues,’ he added.

Many Democrats and liberals have expressed outrage over Trump’s federal takeover from DC. Their criticisms have ranged from accusations of anti-black racism to claims Trump is acting like an authoritarian dictator. Statistics show crime has fallen in DC over the last year. But the capital is still plagued with violent lawlessness – much of it perpetrated by teenagers.

Some liberal commenters have said many of their left-leaning friends are secretly happy about what Trump is doing and excited by the prospect of safer streets. Former MSNBC star Chris Matthews said his friends in the city won’t walk more than three blocks from their homes after dark. Back on CNN, Enten also pointed to another poll, from May of this year, that showed Republicans’ approach to quashing crime as a party were favored by Americans nationwide by an almost-as-impressive 16 points.

‘They actually gained ground on crime. They were maintaining their edge and actually added a little bit to it,’ Enten said. ‘So Republicans in the House, Republicans in the Senate, they absolutely want to be talking about crime. ‘The more they feel that we are talking about crime, the better they feel that electoral landscape is for them,’ he concluded. Trump, on Monday, justified his takeover of the municipality by declaring a ‘crime emergency’. Troops arrived there on Tuesday morning. He promised to address crime in the capital and other major cities during his 2024 campaign. The situation remains ongoing.