In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has gripped the world, President Trump still maintains a high approval rating (51% at least somewhat approve/47% at least somewhat disapprove), despite the mainstream media's portrayal of his leadership as having failed the American public. There is no doubt there have been major mishaps from the federal government, such as, a lack of testing kits and getting needed medical supplies to "hotspots" in NYC and New Jersey, but the public isn't ready yet to completely blame Trump for the federal government's failures.
In our latest Zogby Poll, 48% of likely voters rated Trump's handling of the Covid-19 crisis positively, while 52% rated it negatively. Voters were not as positive about Trump's response to the crisis as they were with Dr. Fauci of NIAID or Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, but the president still received better marks than Congress, Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders.
With that in mind, it's no surprise that the president's job approval numbers remain pretty solid. Trump's standing with his base has been what's keeping his job approval rating near or above 50%. For instance, a majority of voters aged 30-64 gave him a majority job approval rating (55% at least somewhat approve/43% at least somewhat disapprove), while younger voters aged 18-29 were not as upbeat with Trump's performance as commander in chief (39% at least somewhat approve/58% at least somewhat disapprove). Other groups that gave the President a solid job approval rating were Catholics (59% at least somewhat approve/39% at least somewhat disapprove), college educated voters (51% at least somewhat approve/49% at least somewhat disapprove), non-college educated voters (51% at least somewhat approve/46% at least somewhat disapprove), small city voters (53% at least somewhat approve/43% at least somewhat disapprove), Millennials (51% at least somewhat approve/46% at least somewhat disapprove) and Generation X voters (56% at least somewhat approve/42% at least somewhat disapprove).
The president's job performance was rated best by voters in the east (54% at least somewhat approve/44% at least somewhat disapprove) and south (58% at least somewhat approve/41% at least somewhat disapprove), while his performance received a less positive rating in the Central/Great Lakes (46% at least somewhat approve/51% at least somewhat disapprove) and West (41% at least somewhat approve/57% at least somewhat disapprove).
Areas that the president needs to improve upon are with Independents (42% at least somewhat approve/51% at least somewhat disapprove), suburban voters (46% at least somewhat approve/52% at least somewhat disapprove), suburban women (43% at least somewhat approve/54% at least somewhat disapprove), large city voters (49% at least somewhat approve/50% at least somewhat disapprove), and Hispanics (42% at least somewhat approve/55% at least somewhat disapprove). Trump's numbers continue to improve with African American voters; his current job approval rating is 36% at least somewhat approve/63% at least somewhat disapprove.
Despite cries that Donald Trump has not taken the coronavirus pandemic seriously, or waited too long to act swiftly before the virus spread, voters still believe he doing a good job. He has shown a tremendous amount of energy during a difficult crisis. When it comes to President Trump certain things must be separated-primarily his personality, rhetoric and his actions. Can the argument be made the government wasn't prepared, didn't have the right amount of supplies, or was unable to come up with a sound plan to make available millions of test kits, the answer is yes! But at the same time, the president heeded the advice of his task force, worked with Congress to pass the biggest stimulus bill ever (The CARES Act), and provided aid to multiple states that were hit hardest by the crisis.
In the end there aren't perfect decisions made in a crisis of this nature, and there weren't during the financial crisis of Obama's first term, or during 9/11 when George W. Bush was president. Sometimes presidents have to make unpopular decisions that come with unforeseen consequences. At some point the decision will have to be made between the pains of continuing a lockdown and the pains of re-starting the economy and life again.
The president's unorthodox style and tendency to attack his critics during a sensitive moment like this is unsettling to many, and in the end might not help anyone, but to his base, he is seen as somebody who is taking action in his own brash and egotistical way. It might make the mainstream media and his detractors scream, but to his supporters and almost half the country, he is producing results. He is also speaking honestly when he says we cannot stay in lockdown forever. It might not be what we ultimately do, or the right thing, but he's being honest that life will have to go back to a semblance of normality in the future. It might not be reality but it's comforting to some people in this moment of unpredictability. In the end, voters will decide in November who can lead us out of the abyss. Voters have to decide if they want go with someone who they have been to hell and back with or someone different. Does Trump have the mettle to lead us through a dark moment in our history? The verdict is still out but it's the president's election to lose.
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Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
US Likely Voters
3/24/20 - 3/26/20
Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 889 likely voters in the US.
Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Each invitation is password coded and secure so that one respondent can only access the survey one time.
Using information based on census data, voter registration figures, CIA fact books and exit polls, we use complex weighting techniques to best represent the demographics of the population being surveyed. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education, and religion. The party breakdown for this survey is as follows: 36% Democrat, 36% Republican and 28% Independent/unaffiliated.
Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for 889 is +/- 3.3 percentage points. This means that all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated will have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100.
Subsets of the data have a larger margin of error than the whole data set. As a rule we do not rely on the validity of very small subsets of the data especially sets smaller than 50-75 respondents. At that subset we can make estimations based on the data, but in these cases the data is more qualitative than quantitative.
Additional factors can create error, such as question wording and question order.
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About Zogby Analytics:
Zogby Analytics is respected nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities. Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions.
The firm conducts multi-phased opinion research engagements for banking and financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions, cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies and Federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.