As one might imagine, Trump gets especially poor marks from groups with whom he has been struggling to gain traction all year: “Among women, 72% say Trump acted irresponsibly. That stands at 66% among those 65 and older as well as among independents, and 65% among Whites with college degrees.” As a result, Trump’s overall job approval is down to 40 percent; his disapproval is up to 57 percent.
Other polls echo the overwhelming distrust Trump provokes. A Morning Consult/Politico poll finds that 63 percent of voters say he didn’t take enough precautions while less than a quarter say he did. Overall, “Our latest daily tracking of the 2020 race finds [Democratic presidential nominee] Joe Biden leading Donald Trump by 9 percentage points — 52% to 43% — his largest margin since late August.”
That’s due, in large part, to his rising appeal among women:
With just four weeks to go, Trump’s election position is getting worse. FiveThirtyEight has his national average margin inching above eight points. In states that Biden need not win, such as Arizona, his lead is substantial (8 percentage points in the recent New York Times/Siena poll.)
It is easy to imagine that the perception of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus getting even worse and his deficit against Biden even larger. As noted, these polls do not reflect Trump’s Monday tweet telling Americans — after watching more than 209,000 of their countrymen die from covid-19 — that they should not let the disease “dominate” their lives. Nor does it reflect Trump returning to the White House in a highly contagious state. And it does not reflect his Evita-like display on the White House balcony nor his removing his mask before re-entering the White House.
We already know that at least 30 people in Trump’s orbit have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and there are likely to be more. With each confirmed case and — God forbid — death, Trump’s blithe disregard for others’ health will look worse. With more cases, the White House’s refusal to level with its own staff about when Trump last tested negative or even the number of those infected will seem even more cruel and inexplicable.
Moreover, the Trump team seems intent on mocking others for taking lifesaving precautions. Now we hear that Vice President Pence is mocking Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) for taking a sensible step to protect herself during the vice-presidential debate. Senior Biden adviser and former Ebola czar Ronald Klain expressed his dismay:
Pence’s comments convey the very attitude that is pushing voters away, yet the Trump campaign feels compelled to double down on reckless rhetoric. Biden hardly needs to run ads anymore. Trump is the best possible voice to persuade Americans that he does not care one bit about those around him, let alone the whole country.
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