CNN data guru reports that Americans' trust in the FBI is at its lowest point 'this century'

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten revealed new numbers showing that Americans’ trust in the FBI has been on a steep decline for the past 10 years.

During a network segment on Tuesday, Enten revealed that only 41% of U.S. citizens trust the law enforcement agency across the board, which he remarked is the "lowest number this century."

"Look at where we are today, my goodness gracious. Just 41% of Americans think the FBI is doing an excellent or good job. That is by far the lowest number this century," Enten told CNN host Kate Bolduan, citing Gallup poll numbers. 

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CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten recently broke down the numbers showing Americans' decline in their approval of the FBI.

The data reporter marveled at the fact that this is an 18% drop in favorability in just 10 years.

"Look at this time trendline. You go back to 2014, right? It was 59% of Americans, then it was 57% in 2019 — 50% in 2022," he said, before revealing the 2024 numbers. 

Enten detailed the timeline of the drop further, noting, "The bottom line is during the Trump administration, obviously there were the investigations into Donald Trump. You saw a little bit of drop then and then post-January 6, look at that drop — 50%, now 41%. My goodness gracious."

Enten then broke down the approval numbers by party. Starting with Republican voters, he revealed an even steeper drop off among that group. In 2014, 62% considered the FBI as doing an "excellent or good job." Cut to 2024, only 26% thought the same thing.

"Oh, geez," Bolduan remarked, seeing that last number. "Yeah. Oh, geez. Oh, geez. That’s a very good word, Kate Bolduan… This is really where you really see the drop-off," Enten responded.

The Democratic voters’ approval numbers were quite different. Fifty-four percent approved in 2014, which shot up to 66% in 2019. It went up even further — to 79% in 2022 — and then dropped back down to 67%, where it stands currently.

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President-elect Trump nominated Kash Patel as FBI director over the weekend. (Getty Images)

"The bottom line is this: if Republicans have become much less trusting of the FBI, Democrats have become more trusting, though the number who trust it now — who think it’s doing an excellent or good job — is lower than it was two years ago," he said.

"And that is why we have the lowest percentage this century of Americans overall who believe the FBI is doing an excellent or good job."

Enten then spoke about President-elect Trump’s reform-minded choice of attorney Kashyap "Kash" Patel for incoming FBI director.

At the outset of the segment, he said, "I think Patel has real reason to believe that Americans would go along with changes he might potentially make at the FBI, and there’s a reason why Donald Trump feels like he can make this change."

During a later CNN segment, Enten told CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins that since Trump nominated Patel over the weekend, Patel has had no opposition from GOP senators, who, along with Democratic senators, will vote to confirm him or deny him the appointment once Trump gets into office. 

"Here’s a key nugget. You know, I mentioned those three senators, right? You could afford to lose three GOP votes. At this particular point, for Patel to be the FBI head — the key number here — zero. That’s how many GOP senators have come out against him."

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