Republicans are moving quicker to reject social distancing recommendations to join small gatherings than Democrats, opening the widest partisan gap yet on whether the coronavirus has peaked.
In a new Gallup survey, 60% of Republicans said they are avoiding “small gatherings,” down from a peak of 76% at the end of March. Since the survey dates ended May 3, the number is likely down more.
By comparison, 74% of Democrats are still avoiding small gatherings, down from a high of 84% at the end of March.
The survey parallels the several-week’s long drive by key GOP leaders to loosen health restrictions and reopen elements of the economy that were shut down during the initial fight against the virus that has killed nearly 80,000. That move has sparked a battle over the swiftness of the relaxation of rules and raised fears it will result in a new spike of infections.
“Democrats have always been the most likely to avoid small gatherings while Republicans have been the least likely, but the 26-point gap between them is the widest yet. Independents have consistently fallen somewhere in between,” said Gallup.
The reopening effort has long been led by President Trump and embraced by his supporters, making it a political fight too.
Gallup’s bottom line:
“If the trend continues, it could create a larger, but dwindling, group of Americans avoiding small gatherings and a smaller, but growing, group of Americans no longer considering this kind of distance. The tension between these groups has already been evident, as viral images of unmasked social gatherings have sparked outrage and public shaming.
“Projection models forecast that increases in both infections and deaths are on the way up. If this bears out in future rates, how this will impact Americans’ behavior is unknown. Many have been hunkered inside for months and are tired of doing so, but another spike in cases could send some back indoors.”
