CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten on Monday harshly criticized Republican voters who continue to believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump, as the Georgia U.S. Senate race heats up between incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff and Trump-backed GOP Representative Mike Collins.
Enten noted that Collins “fits in very well with how Republicans still feel about the 2020 election” and called the persistent belief “garbage.” He presented polling data showing that 60% of Republicans believed the election was stolen shortly after the 2020 contest, and that figure has risen to 63% five years later—despite no evidence of widespread fraud.
Collins Echoes Trump’s False Claims
Enten branded Collins “Herschel Walker 2.0,” referencing the former football star and Trump-backed Senate candidate who lost in Georgia in 2022. The comment came after Collins told CNN’s Manu Raju on Sunday that Trump won Georgia in 2020. When asked if Joe Biden won the state, Collins replied, “I have said this over and over and over again, you don’t change the rules in the middle of the game. And that’s what happened in 2020, they changed the rules up. You don’t all of a sudden turn around and start mailing out absentee ballots to everybody. You don’t set up drop boxes all over the place for people to just start this mass harvesting. Ballot harvesting.” Pressed on whether Trump won, Collins stated flatly, “Trump won that race.”
Enten: A Losing Message for General Election
Enten highlighted that the majority of Americans do not believe the 2020 election was stolen, and argued that Collins’ repeated promotion of that falsehood is a “losing message” in a general election. He pointed out that such rhetoric may energize the GOP base but alienates swing voters needed to win statewide in Georgia.
The race between Ossoff and Collins is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country, with control of the Senate potentially at stake. Ossoff, first elected in 2021, has focused on economic and healthcare issues, while Collins has aligned himself closely with Trump’s agenda and election denialism.
