Trump approval rises, but more Americans support Biden for president:
poll
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[April 15, 2020]
By Chris Kahn
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of
Americans who approve of President Donald Trump rose by 5 percentage
points over the past week, but registered voters still favored Democrat
Joe Biden for president by a small margin, according to a Reuters/Ipsos
opinion poll released on Tuesday.
The poll, conducted Monday and Tuesday, also showed that the public is
paying closer attention to the candidates' views on the coronavirus
outbreak than to what they are saying about the economy, healthcare or
immigration. And more people think Biden is better suited to guide the
country through the crisis.
Overall, 45% of adults in the United States said they approved of
Trump's job performance, while 48% said they approved of the way he has
responded to COVID-19, up 5 and 6 points, respectively, from a similar
poll that ran last week. Trump's approval numbers have been up and down
over the past few weeks, however, and it is not yet clear if the public
is truly rallying around the president.
Meanwhile, 45% of registered voters said they would back Biden in the
Nov. 3 election, while 40% said they would vote for Trump. Biden has
maintained a small advantage in support among registered voters over the
last four weeks.
The poll was conducted with most Americans forced indoors to protect
themselves from the coronavirus that has infected more than 600,000
people in the United States and killed more than 25,000.
After initially downplaying the threat of the virus, Trump has conducted
a series of combative news briefings during which he has harangued
reporters for criticizing him. Biden, meanwhile, has struggled to remain
in the conversation as the media focused on briefings by governors in
some of the hardest-hit states.
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President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus task force
briefing in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S.,
April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
When asked what was most important to them when deciding how to vote
in November's presidential election, 32% of Americans said it was
the candidate's plan to help the nation recover from the coronavirus.
A smaller number said the candidate's views on the economy (21%),
healthcare (13%) or immigration (5%) were most important.
Fifty-two percent of Americans said they felt that Biden was better
suited to deal with the coronavirus, while 48% said they thought
Trump would be better. Fifty-seven percent also thought Biden would
be a better steward of the country's healthcare system, while 43%
said Trump would be better.
Trump, however, had the edge when the public was asked who would be
better for the U.S. economy (53% to 47%).
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, throughout
the United States. It gathered responses from 1,111 American adults,
including 937 who identified as registered voters. The poll has a
credibility interval, a measure of precision, of plus or minus 4
percentage points.
(Reporting by Chris Kahn, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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