It's official. Americans are underwhelmed by Donald Trump's flagging response to the nation's biggest public health crisis in a century. A CBS News/YouGov poll released Friday morning became the fifth national poll of the week showing Trump both trending downward and underwater on his response to an epidemic that has already claimed nearly 18,000 American lives (which is almost surely an undercount).
The CBS/YouGov poll found that Trump's coronavirus approval rating had slipped four points from just last week to 47% approve/52% disapprove this week. The finding was almost a mirror image reversal from last month when the same poll had Trump at 53% approve/47% disapprove.
Here's how Trump rated on his coronavirus handling in five separate national polls this week:
The CBS poll was brutal in almost every way. But since Trump insists his coronavirus briefings are must-watch TV, it's particularly worth noting that just 37% of respondents said they trust Trump to relay accurate medical information, while 63% don't trust him.
The Monmouth pollster also noted that Americans broadly disagree with Trump’s repeated assertion that the federal government should simply play back-up to the states in the midst of a national crisis.
“Most Americans disagree with the Trump administration’s position that the federal government is a backup to the states. The public seems to view this as a national crisis that requires a national response on par with the aggressive approach taken by the states,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Anyway, Trump had a brief grace period to capitalize on gaining the nation's trust as a “wartime president.” For a couple weeks at best, Americans were giving him the benefit of the doubt. That's all over now. The consensus is, Trump's blowing it.