CNN’s Harry Enten shows drastic decline in FBI trust

CNN senior data reporter Harry Ducks stressed Tuesday that polls showed a drastic decline in trust in the FBI and suggested that declining trust in the institution may have played a role in the president’s election Donald Trump’s Nomination decision Kash Patel to lead it.

Enten has joined CNN Kate Bolduan on Tuesday, arguing that there is enough evidence for Americans to support Patel’s proposed drastic changes at the FBI, since support for it has declined sharply over the past decade. The current approval rating for the institution is the lowest this century, according to Gallup.

Patel has received bipartisan backlash over his nomination.

“I think Patel has real reason to believe that Americans would go along with any changes he might make at the FBI, and there’s a reason why Donald Trump feels he can make that change,” he said Ducks.

In 2014, according to Gallup, 59% of Americans believed the FBI did an “excellent or good job.” This number fell to 57% in 2019 and then to 50% in 2022. In 2024, this number fell to just 41%. Enten attributed the loss of trust to the investigations against Trump during and after his first term in the White House.

“Look at where we are today, my goodness, only 41% of Americans think the FBI is doing an excellent or good job. This is by far the lowest number this century,” he said. “The bottom line is that there were obviously investigations into Donald Trump during the Trump administration. You saw a small decline then and after January 6th, look at that decline. 50%, now 41%. My goodness.”

Watch above via CNN.