Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
GOP governors who took coronavirus seriously saw a huge polling bump. Trump didn't, and is tanking
 Quote:
President Donald Trump's polling numbers are tanking across the board amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Americans increasingly disapprove of his handling of the presidency as well as his approach to the coronavirus pandemic, and he's trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 race, polling shows.

Comparatively, a number of GOP governors have enjoyed a surge in approval over their handling of coronavirus. Unlike Trump, these Republican leaders have consistently taken the threat of the virus seriously while following the guidance of public health experts.

After taking steps that left the US less prepared for a pandemic in his first three years as president, Trump ignored warnings from the intelligence community and top advisers on the potentially devastating impact of the virus, while publicly downplaying the threat for weeks.


But as the coronavirus outbreak escalated in startling ways across the US in March, leading the president to declare a national emergency, Trump saw his approval rating briefly go up in what pollsters dubbed a rally-around-the-flag effect. That quickly changed in April as the US death toll and unemployment rose to astronomical levels, while Trump simultaneously turned daily White House press briefings into campaign rally-like events in which he dominated the spotlight, berating reporters and spreading false information in the process.

The contrast between Trump's handling of the pandemic and the approach taken by a number of Republican governors could not be more stark. And the consequences of this with voters appears to be playing out in the polls.
...


I think Trump is convinced that if the economy isn’t back on the upswing he’s in trouble but he actually saw a slight bump when he changed his messaging on coronavirus to make it appear he was treating the pandemic seriously. It dissolved as he went back to partisan attacks and trying to shift blame all the while demanding praise. Hours and hours of Trump being Trump has paid off...for democrats.


I was watching discussion of this last night on Fox Business News. Trump was at 60% approval two weeks ago on his handling of the Coronavirus outbreak.
Trump's approval on handling the Covid-19 outbreak has "tanked" to... 50% approval.
50% approval is pretty fucking high, for a "tank" in the polls.

I'd further point out that Trump currently has 56% approval on handling the economy. And the economy is the issue that presidents get re-elected on.

I'd suspect the 10% dip in approval has to do with national fatigue on the duration of the shut-down. But people certainly know that Biden and the Democrats absolutely offer no better alternative.
I'd also suspect that people feel a bit of anxiety and uncertainty about re-opening the economy. But if that goes well, then Trump should rise in the polls again.

I would argue that the death tolls were highest in the New York area, because that was a region where its leadership didn't take the crisis seriously, political leaders who ACTUALLY ENCOURAGED crowded festival and night club gatherings, so as to demonstrate not being "racist" like Trump. That resulted in an explosion of cases and deaths worse than anywhere IN THE WORLD! Trump can hardly be blamed for that regional failure.

And yet the New York governor who orchestrated that failure is hailed in the liberal media as the "golden governor" and "presidential", even as he oversaw the worst outbreak in the world. A death total that would have been far worse without Trump's federal assistance, providing more ventilators than were requested, providing field hospitals that went largely unused. Ventilators that Gov. Cuomo himself caused a deficiency of, despite a 2015 warning report.