Donald Trump's sheer incapacity to understand the coronavirus threat and mount any reasonably coordinated response has plunged his approval ratings on the issue into negative territory in three critical Sunbelt states, and it appears to be helping Joe Biden gain traction.
In Arizona, Florida, and Texas, about six in 10 voters say their state rushed to reopen too quickly and of those voters, roughly two-thirds or more chalk up the rushed reopenings to pressure from Trump, according to the CBS News/YouGov battleground tracker. In addition, the more concerned voters in those states are about the pandemic, the more likely they are to support Biden.
The poll shows Biden either ahead or extremely competitive in each state, all of which Trump won (some handily) in 2016.
Presidential Head-to-Head
|
Trump |
Biden |
ARizona |
46% |
46% |
Florida |
42% |
48% |
Texas |
46% |
45% |
About three-quarters of voters in each state see the pandemic as either a "crisis" or a "very serious" problem, and between 62%-69% of voters in all three states say efforts to contain the coronavirus are "going badly."
How are efforts to contain the coronavirus in your state going?
|
Arizona |
Florida |
Texas |
Going well |
31% |
34% |
37% |
Going Badly |
69% |
65% |
62% |
Along similar lines, some six in 10 voters in these states say their reopenings happened too quickly, and among voters who believe it happened too quickly, roughly two-thirds say that was due to pressure from Trump rather than what the state thought was right.
voters who thought their state reopened too quickly, and why?
|
Arizona |
Florida |
Texas |
Too Quickly |
60% |
64% |
61% |
due to pressure from Trump/state thought it was right |
70% pressure/30% right |
68% pressure/32% right |
63% pressure/37% right |
All of these numbers add up to a corresponding increase of support for Biden from voters as their concern about the pandemic rises. Here is CBS’ summation.
Trump did indeed pressure states to reopen before they even met the safety guidelines put out by his own administration, and now his actions are wreaking havoc in those states. The only silver lining of this tragedy is that Trump’s coronavirus debacle appears to be costing him votes. Particularly if he loses Florida—where several recent high-quality polls have given Biden the edge—victory becomes all but impossible for him.