News / Politics

Most Americans continue to disapprove of Trump's handling of coronavirus: Poll

Tuesday, 21 April 2020 1:37 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 21 April 2020 2:34 PM ]

US President Donald Trump looks down as he arrives for the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus at the White House on April 20, 2020. (AFP photo)

A majority of American voters continue to disapprove of President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and don’t trust what he says about the health crisis, according to a new survey.

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 52 percent of US voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, while only 44 percent approve.

That's essentially unchanged from March, when 45 percent approved of the president’s management of the pandemic, and 51 percent disapproved.

The poll also found that just 36 percent of respondents in the poll say they trust what Trump has said when it comes to the coronavirus, while 52 percent say they don't trust him.

As for the federal government's response to the coronavirus, 48 percent of voters are dissatisfied with the measures intended to limit the disease's spread, compared with 50 percent who are satisfied.

The poll also shows that Americans' attitudes about the coronavirus have changed in the past month. In March, 53 percent of voters said they were worried that someone in their family would be infected with the disease. Now it's 73 percent.

Coronavirus could complicate Trump’s path to reelection

In the race for the White House, the NBC News/WSJ poll shows Trump is still trailing apparent Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Biden is ahead of Trump by 7 points nationally among registered voters, 49 percent to 42 percent.

Republican pollster Bill McInturff said a long-lasting COVID-19 crisis could reshape the political map and complicate Trump’s path to reelection.

"In every crisis, we go through this coming-together phase. And then we come to the recrimination phase," he said. "President Trump faces some tough sledding ahead in the recrimination phase."

Pessimism grows about the state of US economy

The survey also found that voters are much more pessimistic about the US economy than they were a month ago. A plurality of 45 percent describe the economy as being poor, which is up more than 20 points since March.

That's the highest percentage of respondents calling the economy poor in the NBC News/WSJ poll since 2012.

Some 31 percent rate the economy as being "only fair," and a combined 22 percent say it's either "excellent" or "good" — down 25 points from last month.