The ABC/Ipsos poll surveyed the general American population and found that 55 percent approve of the way Trump is handling the response to the novel coronavirus, compared to 43 percent who disapprove, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
The poll’s findings are nearly the opposite of how Americans viewed Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic only a week ago. An ABC/Ipsos poll released March 13 found that 43 percent of Americans approved of Trump’s response, and 54 percent disapproved.
The Friday poll also found that 79 percent of Americans are either very concerned or somewhat concerned that either they will be infected with the novel coronavirus or someone they know will be infected. The poll finds that 72 percent of Americans have either canceled or postponed routine activities, such as going out to dinner and/or attending a religious service. This is a sharp increase from the March 13 ABC/Ipsos poll that found only 26 percent of Americans had either canceled or postponed routine activities.
Trump has employed a number of measures to combat the pandemic that has stricken the United States as his administration, which includes multiple members of the Coronavirus Task Force, provides frequent updates from the White House press room to keep Americans up to date on the pandemic. In the past two months, Trump has implemented travel restrictions to China, Iran, 26 European countries, the United Kingdom and Ireland in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. The president invoked the Defense Production Act Wednesday, which would allow him to force manufacturers to make the necessary equipment to deal with this crisis.
The administration announced Thursday that regulations at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been removed to allow doctors to treat patients with off-label medication hydroxychloroquine, which has shown promising results in other countries.
A recent proposal by the Trump administration includes $1 trillion to provide relief for individuals and corporations that have seen less economic activity as restaurants, bars, and other non-essential businesses have been forced to shutter their doors by local governments in order to keep the public from congregating. The proposal is currently being debated in Congress.
Trump has been lauded for his response to the coronavirus from politicians who routinely criticize the president, such as Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar who tweeted that the president’s measures have been “incredible and the right response in this critical time.” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Trump is “being very creative & very energet,ic and I thank him for his partnership.”
The ABC/Ipsos poll released Friday was conducted Wednesday and Thursday. The survey questioned 512 Americans over the age of 18.
