Poll: Americans critical of Donald Trump handling of virus

“I think that from the start to the finish that he came through quite rapidly and he’s back out there,” said Jim Gula, 71, a Republican and Trump supporter from Jacksonville, Florida. “And I think that’s a reflection on the overall people who have come down with a positive test.”

The pandemic upended Trump’s plans to spend 2020 running on a strong economic record, thrusting him instead into the role of a President governing through crisis. He’s repeatedly tried to downplay the impact of the virus, even after his own illness, and has opposed some of the more stringent safety measures recommended by his own administration.

With early voting already underway in much of the country, national polls show Biden leading Trump by a comfortable margin, though many battleground states remain competitive. The president is spending much of this week campaigning in states that should be comfortable territory for him, including Iowa and Georgia, which hasn’t voted for a Democrat for President since 1992.

The race has remained relatively stable for weeks, with Trump unable to gain significant ground on Biden through his efforts to refocus on a “law and order” message aimed at rallying white suburban voters or through his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court seat that opened after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

According to the poll, which was largely conducted before Barrett’s Senate hearings this week, Americans were divided over her confirmation. Thirty percent favored the confirmation, 35% opposed and 34% said they held neither opinion. Republicans were much more likely to support the confirmation than Democrats.

Trump heads into Election Day with a 39% overall approval rating from Americans, on par with his approval ratings over the course of his presidency. But there are other warning signs for him in the AP-NORC poll.

Seventy-four percent of Americans say the country is heading in the wrong direction, including half of Republicans.

And though the majority of Republicans, 83%, approve of Trump’s overall job performance, fewer, 70%, are supportive of his handling of the pandemic. Republicans also showed some skepticism of the White House’s handling of Trump’s diagnosis, with just half saying they trusted the information provided to the public “a great deal” or “quite a bit.”

The President continues to earn more praise for his handling of the economy: 49% of Americans approve, and 51% disapprove. With unemployment still high and the fate of many businesses uncertain due to the pandemic, 61% of Americans described the nation’s economy as poor.

But about two-thirds of Americans say their personal financial situation is good, which has remained consistent since before the pandemic.

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Republished with permission from the Associated Press.