One day after the Zogby Poll found that the coronavirus was “battering” President Trump’s reelection, Gallup has confirmed the trend in its data that also showed the “sharpest drop” it has ever recorded for the president.
At the beginning of April, Trump was at his highest approval rating on the Gallup scale, 49%. Now, he sits at 43%, still above his average, but going in the wrong direction.
“The six-point decline in the president’s approval rating is the sharpest drop Gallup has recorded for the Trump presidency so far, largely because Trump’s ratings have been highly stable and have yet to reach the historical average for presidents (back to 1945) of 53%,” said Gallup.
On Thursday, Secrets reported on the new Zogby Poll that showed Trump losing to Joe Biden by 5 points, 47%-42%. The poll showed the president taking a hit among many key voting groups.
In his analysis, pollster Jonathan Zogby said, “Trump is taking a beating both in the polls and with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Trump will need to change his message from blame game to one of safety and economics,” he said. “Voters are getting antsy and need income. Stimulus checks will only go so far. Voters will need to get back to work safely and soon.”
Yesterday, the president answered that call when he presented a plan to bring back the economy and continue the fight against the virus.
Zogby, who has charted higher approval ratings and longer for Trump than Gallup, said that the president can recover in time for reelection.
Gallup, though, noted that the virus and the administration’s handling of it threaten Trump’s reelection. “The current health and economic crisis is undoubtedly the greatest challenge of his presidency so far — and could imperil his standing in the final year of his first term as he seeks reelection,” said Gallup.
Among the reasons they cited is the length of the fight against the virus and the resulting economic and employment calamity.
“Americans’ ratings of Trump’s performance improved in mid-March, when the novel coronavirus threat demanded federal efforts to contain the spread. Trump addressed the nation on the threat on March 11, and a few days later recommended that Americans follow stay-at-home measures already in place in several states. But one month is a long time for Americans in quarantine, and the dip in the president’s ratings may be equally reflective of their assessment of his performance and an overall souring mood as the unemployment rate and death toll both continue to climb,” said the polling company.
