The United States has learned how much to trust Donald Trump: Just 12% of people in a new CNN poll say they trust almost all of what the White House is saying about Trump’s health. By contrast, 69% said they trust little of what they’re hearing from the White House.
People also know how we got to this point: 60% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and 63% say Trump was irresponsible in his handling of the risk of infection to people around him. Women in particular say Trump was irresponsible.
Women’s disapproval of Trump’s overall handling of the coronavirus crisis also rose in the poll, from 63% last month to 69% in this poll. Men’s disapproval ticked up only from 48% to 51%. Trump’s own personal case of COVID-19 comes as case counts rise in the United States, and the percentage of people who think the country is through the worst of the pandemic rises from 43% to 47%.
Democrats are more concerned than Republicans about the ability of the government to function while Trump is sick—just 15% of Republicans say they’re worried about that, while 48% of Democrats are concerned. Partly that’s because Republicans think Mike Pence would be an acceptable president, but you have to wonder how much it’s because Republicans just don’t believe Trump could get really sick.
What’s clear is that approval of Trump’s handling of coronavirus is not going to get any better, his own case of the virus isn’t helping, and people rightly distrust what he and his White House are telling us about what’s going on.
Posted with permission from Daily Kos.