Trump holds support of political base in virus-prone states

[snoop1130]

Trump holds support of political base in virus-prone states

By Saundra Amrhein, Tim Reid, Julia Harte, Ryan McNeill

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

(Reuters) - Earl Kerr, a 57-year-old electrical contractor in Jacksonville, Florida, says he fears for his 80-year-old mother, who entered an assisted living facility just before the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States. And he says he worries that the tanking economy will sink his small business.

 

But he has faith in U.S. President Donald Trump to handle the crisis. He’s heard the widespread criticism that Trump initially didn’t take the pandemic seriously, that his administration failed to procure vital medical supplies and left overwhelmed states to fend for themselves. Kerr has a different take.

 

“He’s not God. He can’t foresee the future or see that the virus can do this or that,” said Kerr, who voted for Trump in 2016 and plans to again in November. “He’s doing the best he can with the information that he gets.”

 

Continued support from voters like Kerr could prove critical to Trump’s re-election bid - especially because the regions where the president has drawn support often overlap with those most vulnerable to the pandemic, a Reuters analysis shows. The analysis found one in five of Trump’s 2016 voters live in areas where health and economic factors heighten their risks from the coronavirus. Kerr is among 30 voters interviewed by Reuters who live in such at-risk metropolitan areas in Florida, Ohio and West Virginia and who voted for Trump in 2016 or support him now.

 

The interviews, along with the latest Reuters/Ipsos polling data, show stalwart support among Trump’s political base amid the worst public health crisis in a century, with a rising U.S. death toll that has now surpassed 12,700, predictions of an economic depression, and the U.S. stock market’s biggest first-quarter loss in history. But neither has Trump enjoyed the dramatic gains in popularity that past presidents have sometimes seen during crises, when patriotism often runs high - illustrating a hardening of the bitter partisanship that has been the hallmark of his administration.

 

Before the pandemic, the president had trumpeted a soaring economy and record-low unemployment to woo the moderate and independent voters he needs to win the election - especially in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida. That pitch evaporated in the pandemic, making perceptions of his emergency response all the more crucial. Recent polls in Florida and Wisconsin showed Trump trailing Biden by between three and six points.

 

Perceptions of crisis response have had a pivotal impact on the popularity of past presidents. The experience of George W. Bush - the last Republican president, also a polarizing figure - provides a vivid example of partisanship breaking down in some of the nation’s darkest times. Bush’s approval rating soared to more than 90% after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to Gallup polling. But that figure fell below 40% after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and bottomed out at 25% during the 2008 financial crisis, helping Democrat Barack Obama beat Republican challenger John McCain in that year’s election.

 

Trump’s approval rating, by contrast, has remained steady throughout his presidency and has ranged between 40% and 44% since the onset of the U.S. coronavirus crisis in early March, buoyed by the support of 85% of Republicans, according to the latest April 6-7 Reuters/Ipsos poll. That job rating makes November’s election highly competitive, experts say, though the political landscape could shift as the pandemic continues to claim lives and jobs. (For a graphic of the poll results, see reut.rs/39TtJm4)

 

Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said voters continue to support the president in part because he acted early, in late January, to restrict travel from China and appoint a coronavirus task force. “He also has an optimistic view of America and wants to get us moving as soon as it is safe, while also listening to the medical experts,” Murtaugh said.

 

The condemnation of Trump’s response is just as overwhelming among Democrats, nearly 89% of whom disapprove of his job performance, little changed from pre-crisis levels, the poll showed. Independents remain split, with 53% disapproving of the president’s performance and 42% approving.

 

Trump trails Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner, even with the publicity advantage Trump now enjoys as he appears in daily briefings while Biden has isolated himself from the disease in his Delaware home, issuing little-noticed commentary. Registered voters supported Biden by 43% to 37%, according to the April 6-7 poll.

 

Kyle Kondik, a University of Virginia political analyst, said the hyper-partisan divide over Trump limits both his political upside and his downside in the crisis.

 

“People who predict this president will suffer long-term approval dips have been wrong throughout his presidency,” he said.

 

‘IT’S NOT HIS FAULT’

 

Nearly all the Trump supporters interviewed by Reuters said the media and Democrats are unfairly blaming him for a problem that no one could have predicted.

 

Several still likened the new coronavirus to a seasonal flu - echoing Trump comments early in the crisis - even after the president’s own characterization of the outbreak had changed and his advisers said this virus is 10 times more fatal. The voters interviewed lauded Trump for the $2.2 trillion rescue package passed by Congress. They believe the pandemic’s economic fall-out means that the country needs Trump - a businessman - more than ever to steer it out of doldrums.

 

Many said he’s doing the best possible job in an impossible situation.

 

“It’s not his fault that this happened,” Barbara Raccina, 76, of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, who voted for Trump in 2016 and will do so again in November. “I think he’s trying to help as much as he can. The rest is up to us to stay indoors.”

 

Raccina and the other voters interviewed live in areas that supported Trump in 2016 and are now especially vulnerable to the pandemic. The Reuters analysis identified the areas through data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reuters examined the percentage of people who smoke, have asthma or other conditions that can raise the risk of dying from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The analysis also factored in economic data including unemployment and the percentage of the local workers in retail, who are likely to lose their paychecks in the pandemic as stores close.

 

John O’Neill, 61, lives in one of those vulnerable regions - Middletown, Ohio, a metropolitan area Trump won with 56% of the vote in 2016. Middletown has among the nation’s highest percentage of people who smoke, have the lung disease COPD, or have heart conditions, all thought to make COVID-19 more dangerous.

 

Currently unemployed, O’Neill hopes to find work in a warehouse - a setting with potentially high virus exposure - and has been diagnosed with COPD. He said he’s not concerned about the virus.

 

“We have 10,000 people die each year of the flu,” he said, “and they don’t shut businesses down.”

 

O’Neill said he takes comfort from the medical experts advising Trump, such as Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official, who appears alongside the president at televised briefings. Fauci has become something of a cult hero - often praised by commentators with media outlets the president blasts as liberal-leaning because Fauci has publicly contradicted Trump’s assurances that the pandemic was under control.

 

O’Neill views Fauci as one of the president’s trusted advisors.

 

“If Fauci and them are telling him, ‘No, we shouldn’t be doing this,’ I’m sure Trump will listen to them,” he said.

 

‘TRYING TO GIVE US HOPE’

 

With the crisis still in its early days, Trump’s supporters are mindful of the risk that supporters’ confidence in his crisis response could fade if death tolls mount and stocks continue to tumble.

 

None of the voters who spoke to Reuters have yet lost a family member to the virus. Compared to other parts of the United States, there have been few confirmed cases in the parts of Florida, Ohio, and West Virginia that Reuters examined, in part because fewer tests are being taken in those areas.

 

Out of the 30 Trump voters, Reuters found only one whose support has been shaken by the president’s pandemic response - a registered Republican in Cincinnati in his 30s, who asked not to be identified.

 

After the first U.S. case was reported in January, Trump repeatedly insisted it was nothing to worry about and would disappear “like a miracle.” As recently as late March, Trump suggested scaling back coronavirus restrictions by Easter to revive the economy, before eventually extending social distancing guidelines through April.

 

The Cincinnati voter said he is considering voting for Biden in November.

 

Another voter who supported Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, however, said she will back Trump this time. Amy Frasure, 32, of southern Ohio’s Lawrence County, runs an advertising agency across the border in West Virginia. She said it makes sense that Trump has provided a more upbeat assessment than state governors, who have to raise the alarm to effectively deal with public health and economic disasters on the front lines.

 

Trump’s job, she said, is “to make us more comfortable with the fact that there’s something crazy going on.”

 

Some of those who continue to support Trump said the president could have taken a more serious tone on the pandemic.

 

“It bothers me a little when (Trump) says everyone should be back to work by Easter, business booming, things like that,” said Mary Cogan, 52, vice-chair of the Republican Party in Lawrence County. “But then... I think he is probably just trying to give our nation hope.”

 

Cogan, who called Trump’s overall crisis response “awesome,” said every local Republican she knows remains steadfast in their Trump support. She expects the county, where 70% of voters supported Trump in 2016, to back him again.

 

“He will reign here in Lawrence County,” she said.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-08

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[Matzzon]

It´s amazing that this man can have support from anywhere or anyone.

[Puchaiyank]

When I consider the alternative...Trump still gets my vote.

 

You think Trump is scary?

[riclag]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Nearly all the Trump supporters interviewed by Reuters said the media and Democrats are unfairly blaming him for a problem that no one could have predicted.

Reuters,your lucky they permitted you to talk to them.IMOP! 

Edited April 8, 2020 by riclag

[metisdead]

A nonsensical troll post has been removed. 

[Cryingdick]

2 minutes ago, riclag said:

Reuters,Your lucky they permitted you to talk to them.IMOP! 

 

You look around back here in the motherland  (USA) and all you see is Trump signs. It's like he is running unopposed. Evidently Biden is doing some podcasts or something? Trump is front and center everyday. 

 

I remember the libs being overjoyed he would have to stop his rallies. Seems he has found a new forum to energize his base much to the consternation of the left. I bet they are tired of all of this winning. They are literally outmaneuvered at every step and turn. What makes it so funny is this is accomplished by a guy they think is so dumb and worse then Satan.

 

Hopefully Joe gets a motivational speaker and an extra dose of Prevagen every morning.  

 

 

[DoctorG]

I am looking forward to the Trump/Biden debate. That should be hilarious.

[Tug]

12 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

When I consider the alternative...Trump still gets my vote.

 

You think Trump is scary?

Yea the experience and integrity would be awful ehhh 

[metisdead]

An offensive troll post has been removed. 

[Sir Swagman]

Any alternative to the paramecium equivalent brained individual in the building ‘you can call it anything, it doesn’t have a name...’ White House, might actually listen to advisors, base statements on more than ‘feelings’, undoubtedly lie less (as to lie more would be an Herculean task) and so, in spite of perceived shortcomings (as opposed to manifestly demonstrated ones) would be preferable.

[Paul Henry]

Trump, Biden debates will not happen. Trump is scared of Biden that's why he tried cheating to stop Biden being front runner. Biden would tie Trump in knots and would cut to pieces Trumps phony statistics and claims of his success. Trump will make some lame excuse as to why the debate should not go ahead.

[samran]

17 minutes ago, Paul Henry said:

Trump, Biden debates will not happen. Trump is scared of Biden that's why he tried cheating to stop Biden being front runner. Biden would tie Trump in knots and would cut to pieces Trumps phony statistics and claims of his success. Trump will make some lame excuse as to why the debate should not go ahead.

As we discovered last time around, these things only matter to those who care about such things.

 

And it pains me to say it, that is the genius of trump. The rest just want a wrecking ball....cause you know...they want one.

 

Just give them someone else to blame for their own self created predicament in life. Trump is good at that. 

Edited April 9, 2020 by samran

[UbonThani]

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

I am looking forward to the Trump/Biden debate. That should be hilarious.

True. Trump will rip him a new one.

[Rimmer]

A post with an icorect quote has been removed, also a reply

[earlinclaifornia]

13 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You look around back here in the motherland  (USA) and all you see is Trump signs. It's like he is running unopposed. Evidently Biden is doing some podcasts or something? Trump is front and center everyday. 

 

I remember the libs being overjoyed he would have to stop his rallies. Seems he has found a new forum to energize his base much to the consternation of the left. I bet they are tired of all of this winning. They are literally outmaneuvered at every step and turn. What makes it so funny is this is accomplished by a guy they think is so dumb and worse then Satan.

 

Hopefully Joe gets a motivational speaker and an extra dose of Prevagen every morning.  

 

 

trump admires just one thing about the Democrats as he has said before. They stick together and I like that. His supporters have that also. November the 3rd we will know if Biden or trump is the next President despite his base. Don't forget our bet!

[earlinclaifornia]

4 hours ago, DoctorG said:

I am looking forward to the Trump/Biden debate. That should be hilarious.

When Biden is being stalked, turns quickly and trump jumps like a girl. I can't wait!

Edited April 9, 2020 by earlinclaifornia
spelling

[Gweiloman]

16 hours ago, Matzzon said:

It´s amazing that this man can have support from anywhere or anyone.

Shows the intellect of a large proportion of the population. 
 

Every country in the world will require a good leader to lead them out of the inevitable recession. America has to choose wisely if she hopes to remain as the world’s strongest economy. One thing that is sure - she will have to go it alone. None of her traditional allies (that Trump has antagonised) will support her if Trump remains in power. Putin and Xi are rubbing their hands in glee. 

[wwest5829]

No surprise that he retains his base. As he stated early on, he could shoot someone and retain support. Sad ... And we wondered as followers of Jim Jones drank the Koolaid ...

[Thingamabob]

4 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

Trump, Biden debates will not happen. Trump is scared of Biden that's why he tried cheating to stop Biden being front runner. Biden would tie Trump in knots and would cut to pieces Trumps phony statistics and claims of his success. Trump will make some lame excuse as to why the debate should not go ahead.

On the contrary, Trump will murder sloppy, senile and corrupt Biden. Just a coupe of questions to dozy Joe about Ukraine and it will all be over.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Thingamabob
Incorrect spelling.

[PattayaJames]

7 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

Trump, Biden debates will not happen. Trump is scared of Biden that's why he tried cheating to stop Biden being front runner. Biden would tie Trump in knots and would cut to pieces Trumps phony statistics and claims of his success. Trump will make some lame excuse as to why the debate should not go ahead.

 

This is satire, right. ????

[Mavideol]

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“If Fauci and them are telling him, ‘No, we shouldn’t be doing this,’ I’m sure Trump will listen to them,” he said.

almost choke when reading ''' listen to them"".... 555

[earlinclaifornia]

3 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

On the contrary, Trump will murder sloppy, senile and corrupt Biden. Just a coupe of questions to dozy Joe about Ukraine and it will all be over.

Fantasy Land Dreamer, trump is TOASTED

[earlinclaifornia]

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_biden-6247.html

I know I know Hilary's polls and her emails Move ON Biden will smash him good

[earlinclaifornia]

m

19 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You look around back here in the motherland  (USA) and all you see is Trump signs. It's like he is running unopposed. Evidently Biden is doing some podcasts or something? Trump is front and center everyday. 

 

I remember the libs being overjoyed he would have to stop his rallies. Seems he has found a new forum to energize his base much to the consternation of the left. I bet they are tired of all of this winning. They are literally outmaneuvered at every step and turn. What makes it so funny is this is accomplished by a guy they think is so dumb and worse then Satan.

 

Hopefully Joe gets a motivational speaker and an extra dose of Prevagen every morning.  

 

 

That Front and Center has caught up already to him just fine. LOL MotherLand's Lates news Among registered voters, that gap is even wider: 54 percent disapprove vs. 43 percent approve.

 

Deny, deflect, maybe it is so but so what!

 

https://news.yahoo.com/new-yahoo-news-you-gov-coronavirus-poll-shows-americans-turning-against-trump-201315969.html

Edited April 9, 2020 by earlinclaifornia
grammer

[metisdead]

Another post containing unattributed content has been removed, please provide a valid link to the source of information when posting:

 

14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

 

A post containing a video from a late night comedy show has been removed as it is not a valid source of news.

[TopDeadSenter]

On 4/9/2020 at 9:09 AM, Paul Henry said:

Trump, Biden debates will not happen. Trump is scared of Biden that's why he tried cheating to stop Biden being front runner. Biden would tie Trump in knots and would cut to pieces Trumps phony statistics and claims of his success. Trump will make some lame excuse as to why the debate should not go ahead.

With news now confirming Trump tried adding an extra debate, which was rejected by Biden's team, we can finally all see the resolution of the "who is scared of the debate" discussion that has raged on this forum. Good to have a firm conclusion after such a heated debate, yet I am sure we will still be reading more posts like the above - detached from reality - and claiming that Trump is terrified of Biden. Let's see.

 

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/trump-demand-for-extra-biden-debate-rejected

"The US election debates commission on Thursday turned down the Trump campaign's push to add a fourth televised clash with Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

The commission said that "three 90-minute debates work well to fulfill the voter education purposes the debates are intended to serve... (and it) remains committed to the schedule."

[stevenl]

Just now, TopDeadSenter said:

With news now confirming Trump tried adding an extra debate, which was rejected by Biden's team, we can finally all see the resolution of the "who is scared of the debate" discussion that has raged on this forum. Good to have a firm conclusion after such a heated debate, yet I am sure we will still be reading more posts like the above - detached from reality - and claiming that Trump is terrified of Biden. Let's see.

 

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/trump-demand-for-extra-biden-debate-rejected

"The US election debates commission on Thursday turned down the Trump campaign's push to add a fourth televised clash with Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

The commission said that "three 90-minute debates work well to fulfill the voter education purposes the debates are intended to serve... (and it) remains committed to the schedule."

Trump is lagging behind and has to debate, Biden doesn't. Same pattern in all elections.

[mtls2005]

4 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

With news now confirming Trump tried adding an extra debate, which was rejected by Biden's team, we can finally all see the resolution of the "who is scared of the debate"

 

Silly comment.

 

Counting on a fourth debate to reveal something not displayed in three previous debates seems to smell of desperation.

 

Meanwhile trump calls Thailand, Thigh-land.

 

 

[Mavideol]

On 4/8/2020 at 7:05 PM, snoop1130 said:

“He’s not God. He can’t foresee the future or see that the virus can do this or that,”

he pretends to be one claiming he can do anything he wants.... my idea? he's mostly <deleted> because his ideas of becoming president for life are down the pipe, he's jealous of his friends who achieved greatness by becoming presidents for life the Czar/president Vlad, Emperor Xi, Kim in North Korea, Duda in Poland,  Netanyahuin Israel, Bolsonaro Brazil all did great then Trump and he can't accept it

[Eric Loh]

4 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Silly comment.

 

Counting on a fourth debate to reveal something not displayed in three previous debates seems to smell of desperation.

 

Meanwhile trump calls Thailand, Thigh-land.

 

 

Not only a silly comment but a false claim. It was the Presidential Debate Commission that denied the additional debate, not Biden. To me the debates are useless when you can't fact-check in real time all the lies that he will be spouting to millions of viewers.

 

https://nypost.com/2020/08/06/commission-rejects-trump-request-for-4th-presidential-debate/