Yet another poll confirms that contrary to the media’s pussyfooting around the issue, the public really, truly loathes China.
In a sharp divergence from a near 50-50 split of public opinion just three years ago, Pew Research Center found that 2 out of 3 people in the United States have a negative opinion of China, with just one in four reporting a favorable one. This tracks closely with a Morning Consult poll from January that found that even before the coronavirus became a global crisis, the majority of the nation considered China either unfriendly or an outright enemy to the U.S.
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Both Pew and Morning Consult found that voters of both political stripes tend to agree. Morning Consult reported that those approving and disapproving of President Trump’s job performance reported virtually the same level of distrust of China, while Pew found a 10-point gap between Republicans, who are slightly more disdainful toward China. But since 2017, Democrats have actually become hostile to China in greater numbers. Three years ago, just 41% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters reported unfavorable opinions of China. Today, that’s 62%, constituting a 21-point jump in contrast to Republicans’ 16-point jump.
Perhaps these figures are reflective of Trump’s ire towards the Chinese Communist Party, and they’re likely reflected in Joe Biden’s willingness to name and blame the CCP for the coronavirus crisis. But given the continued increase in Democratic dislike of the regime, it’s likely that this is the natural result of the CCP’s outright malice toward the free world reaping what it’s sown. You don’t get to 9 in 10 adults considering an entire nation a threat (and more than 3 in 5 considering it a major one) because of one man’s grudge.
For once, Republican voters agree with Democratic voters, and the Republican presidential incumbent agrees with the de facto Democratic nominee. But why can’t Biden’s party get on board?
Sure, the usual cadre of tankie blue checkmarks came out of the woodwork to blast Biden for rightfully blaming China for this whole disaster. But Biden doesn’t need basement-dwelling bloggers in New York to win the White House. However, he does need party leaders to toe his campaign’s line, and if the past week has been any indication, that simply won’t happen.
In a solid showing of their ability to read the room, Democrats bent over backward to excoriate Trump for threatening the funding of the World Health Organization, the CCP-controlled sham of an organization that covered for China’s lies. But most egregiously, after Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, went on CNN to absolve China of any blame for the coronavirus, not one Democrat went on the record to challenge him. Since Biden launched his anti-China offensive, Congressional Democrats have gone nearly radio silent, signaling an unwillingness to drive home a message agreed upon by the majority of Democratic and Republican voters.
For perhaps the first time in Trump’s presidency, the nation and the leaders of both political parties can agree on whom the villain of the moment is. Why can’t the rest of the Democratic Party’s powerful?
