65% of Americans think Trump was too slow in COVID response
Posted by Robert Leonard / April 17, 2020
According to a Pew Research survey, the American public thinks Trump did a poor job handling the COVID crisis. 65% of Americans think Trump was too slow in responding to the crisis. Polls also reveal that Americans are more concerned that the country will be “opened for business” too soon, as opposed to too late, explicitly contradicting Trump’s statements.
Overall, the COVID crisis has been bad for Trump. Historically, in times of national crisis, Americans have rallied around the president. During 9/11, for example, George W. Bush’s approval ratings spiked. Unusually, Donald Trump is not seeing the “rally around the flag” effect. His approval ratings briefly rose, but in the past week his ratings have dropped to pre-coronavirus levels, largely as a result of his daily briefings.
Trump’s approval ratings also suffered when he gave FEMA permission to limit sale of essential goods to Canada, saying that he would use the Defense Production Act to stop US companies from selling personal protective equipment, such as N95 masks, and other medical equipment to Canada. Trump also directly asked 3M not to sell N95 masks to Canada.
3M criticized Trump’s order on humanitarian grounds, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that Canada will begin producing N96 masks, which it will not sell to the U.S. He also severely criticized the U.S. president.
International media organizations are increasingly attacking Trump for his handling of the pandemic. The Independent thinks that the United States is going to lose its superpower status forever because of Trump’s bungling. In a meeting of international leaders, the Trump administration tried to convince everyone to call COVID the “Wuhan Virus.” Pick your battles, dude.
The Guardian claims that the initial six weeks of the outbreak were the most important test of the Trump presidency––a test he failed by neglecting to take the virus seriously. The drive-through testing sites he promised are nowhere to be found, further suggesting his approval ratings will plummet––and more importantly the number of deaths will rise.
Almost a million physicians have also called on Trump to abandon his efforts to return American business to normal by Easter. They warn that a premature return to normal will certainly lead to unnecessary death.
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