Majority Of Americans Not Satisfied With Donald Trump's COVID-19 Strategy, New Poll Shows

The majority of Americans are not satisfied with Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. A poll released on Sunday revealed that approval of the U.S. president’s pandemic response has hit a new low, with only 32% of Americans pleased with his strategy.

Although Trump’s overall approval rating remains constant at 38%, the latest poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that only 2 in 10 Americans think that the U.S. is heading in the right direction amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The poll also revealed that approval of his handling of the economic crisis has plummeted, with only 38 percent of Americans saying the current economy is good. Before the pandemic, 67% of Americans were pleased with Trump’s handling of the economic crisis.

According to the poll, support for Trump’s handling of the pandemic also significantly dropped among Republicans, with now only 68% satisfied with his efforts. The poll also found that contrary to Trump’s tweet on Friday that his approval within his own party was steady at 96%, only 81% of Republicans are now happy with the president’s overall job performance.

The result of the poll came just days after this week’s White House task force briefing, where Trump changed his tone on the pandemic. During the briefing, Trump acknowledged that he was facing polling headwinds ahead of the November general elections.

Notably, Trump has been more serious about handling the pandemic in recent weeks than when the coronavirus outbreak first hit the U.S. in January. It can be recalled that Trump initially downplayed the pandemic, saying those who get infected with the virus could recover without seeing a doctor.

For months, he also praised his administration for effectively containing the virus. In a recent statement, however, Trump noted that the pandemic would “get worse before it gets better.” He also urged Americans to wear masks in public to prevent contagion.

The U.S. has recorded at least 4.3 million cases of COVID-19 since January. The pandemic has also killed at least 146,000 in the country.