But he’s not going to be happy about it.
A majority of Americans — 55% — now say the federal government has done a poor job preventing the spread of coronavirus in the United States, up eight points in about a week, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS as the nationwide death toll from the virus rose above 12,000.
Eighty percent feel the worst of the outbreak is yet to come, most (55%) feel President Donald Trump could be doing more to fight the outbreak, and 37% say they have grown more concerned about coronavirus in the last few days, far outpacing the 5% who say their fears have eased recently.
About 1 in 5 (22%) say they personally know someone who has been diagnosed with the virus, a figure that is double the share who said so in a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted just two weeks ago.Just under half (46%) say it is at least somewhat likely that they or someone in their family will contract the coronavirus, and there are deep disparities by socio-economic status and partisanship in Americans’ level of confidence that they will be able to get treatment should they become ill with the virus.
A majority, 52%, say they disapprove of the way Trump is handling the coronavirus outbreak, and 45% approve. Both figures have risen since early March, when 41% approved, 48% disapproved and 11% weren’t sure how they felt about the President’s handling of the viral outbreak.Still, just 43% say the President is doing everything he could to fight the outbreak, while 55% say he could be doing more — including 17% among those who approve of his handling of it so far and 18% of Republicans.
The President’s overall approval rating stands at 44% approve to 51% disapprove, little changed from a 43% approve to 53% disapprove reading in each of the previous three CNN polls.
As the number of coronavirus cases spreads throughout the country, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, earns the highest approval rating for his handling of the response to the coronavirus, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea-ack) University national poll released today. He is closely followed by state governors, but President Trump and Congress don’t fare quite as well on their handling of the response to the coronavirus:
- Dr. Anthony Fauci: 78 percent approve, 7 percent disapprove;
- “Your state’s governor”: 74 percent approve, 24 percent disapprove;
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: 59 percent approve, 17 percent disapprove;
- President Trump: 46 percent approve, 51 percent disapprove;
- Congress: 44 percent approve, 46 percent disapprove.
When it comes to President Trump’s response to the coronavirus, 55 percent of registered voters say that he has not acted aggressively enough, while 41 percent say his response has been about right and 2 percent say he’s been too aggressive.
“In a country gripped by crisis and divided by partisanship, public opinion is united when it comes to Dr. Anthony Fauci. Nearly 8 in 10 voters give him a resounding thumbs up for the job he’s doing responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s not the case for President Trump. More voters disapprove of his response than approve. Separately, they say he hasn’t acted aggressively enough in his response,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Mary Snow.
A plurality of voters gives the president a failing grade on the way he has communicated information about the coronavirus to the American people:
- 25 percent give Trump an A;
- 17 percent give him a B;
- 14 percent give him a C;
- 12 percent give him a D;
- 31 percent give him an F.
THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
More than 8 out of 10 registered voters, 85 percent, say they are either very (50 percent) or somewhat (35 percent) concerned they or someone they know will be infected with the coronavirus, a spike of 31 percentage points from early March. However, the concern goes beyond infections. Three-quarters of voters say they are either very concerned (39 percent) or somewhat concerned (36 percent) that they or someone in their family will need to be hospitalized because of the coronavirus.
“While overall concerns about coronavirus infections have jumped dramatically in the past month, the level of concern depends on political party. Democrats lead the way in being ‘very concerned,’ almost twice the number of Republicans. Independents are in the middle,” added Snow.
Seven out of ten voters, 70 percent, say that the coronavirus crisis in the United States is getting worse, while 20 percent say it is staying the same and only 8 percent see it getting better. And voters are not expecting the crisis to end any time soon: 63 percent say they expect the coronavirus crisis will be over in a few months, 23 percent say more than a year, and only 10 percent say a few weeks. Almost two thirds of voters, 64 percent, say their daily life has changed in a major way since the coronavirus crisis hit the U.S., while 26 percent say it has changed in a minor way and 10 percent say it hasn’t changed much.
Voters are split on how confident they are that they would be able to get tested for the coronavirus if they wanted to, with 47 percent saying that they are very or somewhat confident that they would be able to get a test, and 50 percent saying that they are not so confident or not confident at all.
While most states have issued their own stay at home orders, 81 percent of voters say they would support a stay at home order on a national level. Voters also say 59 – 35 percent that the federal government should be doing more to address the needs of New York City, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
Despite approving 79 – 15 percent of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill that was recently passed, 59 percent of voters say Congress should pass another stimulus bill to address the crisis, while only 26 percent say the current bill does enough to address the crisis. Getting more money to individuals and families should be prioritized in a new bill, say 66 percent of voters, while 19 percent say businesses should be the top priority and 11 percent select state and local governments as the top priority.
THE ECONOMY AND JOBS
More than half of voters, 55 percent, think the United States is now in a recession. Of that number, 54 percent expect it to be worse than the Great Recession that started in 2008, while 26 percent say not as bad and 15 percent believe it will be as bad. When asked about the state of the economy, only 31 percent of voters describe it as excellent or good, while 66 percent of voters say it is not so good or poor. A majority of voters, 60 percent, also say that the economy is getting worse, while 19 percent think it is staying about the same and 16 percent think it is getting better.
TRUMP APPROVAL RATINGS
Despite a dim outlook on the economy, voters still give President Trump a positive approval rating on his handling of the economy, approving 51 – 44 percent.
President Trump also receives his highest job approval rating since taking office, as 45 percent approve of the job he is doing as president, while 51 percent disapprove. One month ago, 41 percent approved, while 54 percent disapproved.
The president gets lower marks on his handling of health care than on his overall job performance or on his handling of the economy, as voters disapprove of his handling of health care 54 – 39 percent. However, this approval rating is the highest mark President Trump has received on his handling of health care since he took office.
In a head to head matchup between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, Biden beats Trump 49 – 41 percent. Republicans go to Trump 91 – 7 percent, while Democrats go to Biden 91 – 4 percent and independents favor Biden 44 – 35 percent.
The president’s favorability rating remains underwater, as 41 percent say they have a favorable opinion of him and 52 percent say unfavorable. However, his rating has improved from the March 9th Quinnipiac University poll, in which he had a negative 39 – 58 percent rating. Today, voters have a split opinion on Biden, as 43 percent say they have a favorable opinion and 43 percent say unfavorable, little changed from the March poll in which he had a slightly positive 45 – 40 percent rating.
When asked who would do a better job handling a crisis, voters say 51 – 42 percent that Biden would do a better job than Trump. Biden tops Trump by a similar margin on health care, as voters say 53 – 40 percent that he would do a better job than Trump at handling the issue. However, voters say 49 – 44 percent that the president would do a better job than Biden handling the economy.
I don’t know why anyone would think Trump will do a better job on the economy than well … anyone. But aside from that it doesn’t look as if Trump is moving the dial in a positive way according to either of these polls.
At the beginning of the outbreak people were seeing his performance as a positive. But once he decided to come on TV every day and hold a campaign rally, acting like a jerk and almost entirely in rank political fashion, the numbers have gone down.