CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten on Tuesday argued that President Donald Trump’s proposal to reopen the notorious former federal prison at Alcatraz is tied to his favorable polling when it comes to tackling crime.
“Yes, I know it’s late-night fodder for a lot of different folks. But what it actually speaks to is Donald Trump focusing the American people’s attention on an issue in which they actually do like what he’s doing,” Enten told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
Trump, in a post to his Truth Social platform Sunday, wrote that he was directing federal agencies to reopen a “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay to “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
Alcatraz — which symbolized inescapable and cruel conditions due to its maximum security and location — held noteworthy criminals in its 29-year run before shuttering in 1963 after it fell into disrepair.
The island, which Native American activists famously occupied from 1969 to 1971, now hosts 1.2 million tourists a year and commemorates the historic occupation.
Experts have stressed that reopening a prison on the island could prove to be expensive and, as one sociology professor who has written about Alcatraz put it to Time magazine, a new facility would likely just be a publicity stunt for Trump.
Enten, while arguing how Trump’s proposal falls in line with one of his “best” performing issues in the polls, turned to Ipsos numbers showing Trump with a net approval rating of two percentage points when registered voters were asked about his handling of crime last month.
This figure, Enten noted, is “far better” than one from Joe Biden, who had a net approval rating of - 26 percentage points with registered voters on the same issue last year.
“You rarely ever see it,” Enten said.
“So Donald Trump ran in part on law and order. It was one of the reasons that he got elected. And at this particular point, Americans like what they’re hearing from him on the issue of crime.”
Trump’s net approval rating on handling crime also rose by 15 percentage points between March 2024 to April of this year, according to Ipsos polling.
H/T: Mediaite