CNN host Jake Tapper was stunned by a shocking exit poll Tuesday showing former President Donald Trump substantially leading Vice President Kamala Harris among independent voters in Georgia.
“Independent voters – they make up 31% of the electorate” there, CNN political analyst David Chalian noted — before revealing that Trump is “winning them by 11 points” in the swing state of Georgia.
CNN’s exit poll found Trump garnering the support of 54% of the Peach State’s independents, compared to Harris’ 43% backing.
Chalian pointed out that in the 2020 election, Joe Biden won Georgia independents by a 9-point margin, indicating a 20-point swing toward Trump this time around.
“Wow,” Tapper said of the exit poll. “That is really significant.
“We see some incremental changes here and there,” Tapper continued. “When it comes to young voters, [Harris is] doing slightly better, non-college educated whites [are where Trump is] doing slightly better, but that independent swing is wild.”
CNN’s Chris Wallace, who earlier in the evening indicated that Harris needed “a miracle” to pull out a victory against Trump given the exit polls, was struggling to comprehend how the former president won over so many independents.
“I’m trying to figure out why,” Wallace said, noting that he was at “’a loss as to how you would explain” it.
Early returns in Georgia show Trump leading Harris in the vote count by 52.3% to 47%, according to The Associated Press.
State courts extended polling hours in several precincts because of bomb threats that impacted operations and may now delay the final count.
The state has 16 crucial Electoral College votes up for grabs.
Biden’s narrow 0.23 percentage point victory in Georgia in 2020 marked the first time since 1992 that a Democratic presidential candidate had won the state.
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