Ryan Nicol
President Donald Trump‘s approval rating dropped 11 points since mid-March, according to a new poll from the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI).
The previous version of the survey showed 49% of voters approved of Trump’s presidency, with just 41% disapproving, giving him a +8 approval rating.
Friday’s version showed that support dipping, with just 43% supporting the president and 46% disapproving. That puts him at a -3 rating, a swing of 11 points since March.
That may be due, in part, to voters’ feelings about the federal response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
However, Trump polled even among voters on his handling of the COVID-19 crisis. That issue saw a roughly 45%-45% split among voters, according to the survey.
Gov. Ron DeSantis polled better with a 49% approval rating for his coronavirus response, with just 36% disapproving.
With DeSantis at a +13 rating in terms of his response, he has still taken a hit to his overall approval rating since March. DeSantis dropped 3 points, a far more modest change than Trump’s 11-point swing overall.
While Trump did act early on partially banning travel from China — where the virus originated — he hesitated for weeks before eventually issuing widespread social distancing guidelines, which states have now adopted. Trump also falsely claimed that anyone who wants a test can have one.
Some have criticized DeSantis for being too hands-off as well. Florida has shown a decline in the rate of new cases in recent weeks though, as well as a decline in individuals hospitalized or on ventilators due to COVID-19.
Florida has begun Phase One of its reopening plan. Thursday, the Governor announced Broward and Miami-Dade counties would join Phase One starting Monday. Those two counties — which have served as the epicenter of the outbreak in the state — will be the last two counties to enter that phase. DeSantis is expected to announce Phase Two for the rest of the state sometime Friday.
Friday’s poll also showed presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden earning 53% of the vote in Florida to Trump’s 47%.
The FAU BEPI survey sampled 928 registered voters and was conducted from May 8-12. It contains a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
