CNN Data Guru Declares, ‘Pete Hegseth Is Hated by Basically Everyone’

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten has taken a closer look at just how unpopular Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has become this year.

At the beginning of the CNN News Central segment on Thursday, anchor Kate Bolduan noted that House Speaker Mike Johnson started the House recess early and sent members of Congress home for the next seven weeks.

Johnson’s move, she said, prevents House members from having to vote on Hegseth’s potential impeachment.

When she threw it over to Enten, he broke down how “hated” the Defense secretary has become since the start of the war in Iran, saying:

Hegseth’s net approval. You know, back before the Iran war started, back in January of 2026, right, it was minus-9 points. You think that’s low? Look at this: he’s more than twice as unpopular, nearly three times as unpopular now, and his net approval rating [is] minus-25 points.

How about among Independents? You think that minus-9 is low? How about minus-20 before the war started? You think that minus-20 is low? How about minus-43 points among Independents now? No wonder, no wonder, no wonder Speaker Johnson did not want his Republican representatives to actually have to vote on this because if they voted with the president, they’d be voting against the American public, because the bottom line is Pete Hegseth is hated by basically everyone.

Enten then compared Hegseth’s dismal approval numbers to those of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld notably resigned in 2006 amid criticism over his handling of the war in Iraq. Democrats then took control of the House and Senate in that year’s midterm elections.

“This minus-25 points for Pete Hegseth, you know who that matches? That matches Donald Rumsfeld back in October of 2006, just before that midterm election,” Enten continued, “in which Republicans were absolutely crushed. Of course, he was dealing with the Iraq War. These are the two who are tied for the second-lowest, and then Donald Rumsfeld just after that midterm election in which Republicans lost both the House and the Senate — that is the all-time low.

“Pete Hegseth ain’t there yet, but he’s certainly on the road to an all-time low based upon this Donald Rumsfeld comparison, and that is not a comparison that Republicans can possibly like.”

Watch above via CNN.

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