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Tag: marist poll
Donald Trump

New Pandemic Poll Shows That Most Voters Now Distrust Trump

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

New polling underscores the motivations behind Donald Trump's desperate bid to steal the election by kneecapping vote-by-mail systems at the state level. Trump has 100 percent blown what has become this election's pivotal issue: the coronavirus.

The new NPR/PBS/Marist poll released Friday showed that fully 71 percent of Americans now consider the coronavirus to be "a real threat." That's not only an eye-popping share of the electorate, that's a major jump from March when 56 percent deemed it a major threat.

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Polls: Trump Lies Persuaded Republicans To Dismiss Virus Threat

Polls: Trump Lies Persuaded Republicans To Dismiss Virus Threat

Following weeks of Donald Trump and other Republican lawmakers downplaying the significance of the coronavirus outbreak, polling shows Republicans went from believing it was a threat to saying the threat was overhyped.

In an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll taken on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, Americans across the political spectrum were on the same page, with 72 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of Democrats believing the coronavirus outbreak was “a real threat.”

Less than a quarter of each group believed the threat was “blown out of proportion” at that time.

Within six weeks, the opinion among most Republicans has drastically changed.

An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll taken March 13 and 14 showed a majority of Republicans, or 54 percent, now viewed the threat from coronavirus as being blown out of proportion, with only 40 percent believing it to be real.

Over the same period of time, Democrats became more convinced the coronavirus was a serious issue, with an increase from 70 percent to 76 percent of them saying it was a real threat, and a decrease to only 20 percent believing it is overblown.

The recent poll also showed 74 percent of Republicans trusted what Trump said about the coronavirus outbreak, compared to just 8 percent of Democrats. Just 36 percent of Republicans trusted the media on coronavirus, compared to 64 percent of Democrats.

During the time between the two polls, Trump repeatedly told Americans that the situation was both under control and no big deal.

“Well, we pretty much shut it down coming in from China,” Trump said about coronavirus on Feb. 2, two days after implementing travel restrictions on travelers coming from China, where the new coronavirus was first reported. “So we’re gonna see what happens, but we did shut it down, yes.”

A week later, on Feb. 10, Trump said warm weather would put an end to the new coronavirus.

“A lot of people think that goes away in April as the heat comes in,” Trump said, adding, “We’re in great shape though. We have 12 cases, 11 cases, and many of them are in good shape.” (Scientists have said there’s not enough evidence to make such a claim.)

On Feb. 24, Trump both downplayed the growing threat and tried to calm a jittery stock market.

“The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA,” Trump tweeted. “Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”

A couple of days later, on Feb. 26, Trump said, “When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero. That’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”

The Washington Post reported that, rather than the number going down, there were 100 confirmed cases within five days of this statement. Two weeks later, there were 1,000 confirmed cases and at least 28 deaths.

On Feb. 28, Trump went so far as to claim Democrats who were concerned about the growing threat from coronavirus were perpetrating “a new hoax” to make him look bad.

Even well into March, Trump continued to dismiss concerns about the growing pandemic. “And we’re prepared, and we’re doing a great job with it,” Trump said on March 10. “And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”

But the day after Trump said it would go away, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global health pandemic.

On March 13, the day the second NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll was put into the field, Trump finally declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a national emergency.

And according to the most recent poll, more Republicans than ever believe concerns about it are overblown.

As of March 17, more than 4,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and at least 75 people in the U.S. have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

On ‘Morning Joe’: High (GOP) Anxiety About Hillary Clinton

On ‘Morning Joe’: High (GOP) Anxiety About Hillary Clinton

Having known Joe Scarborough for years, I always enjoy appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe with him, Mika, Willie Geist, Mike Barnicle et al. And I’m well aware of the host’s quirks, which is why I wasn’t surprised when his producers asked me to appear this morning with Jamie Weinstein, author of a misfired hit on Hillary Clinton in the Daily Caller (a right-wing website edited by Fox News personality Tucker Carlson).

Weinstein’s conjecture is that despite her evident and enduring popularity, Clinton isn’t really a formidable presidential candidate. He repeats well-worn talking points about her record, suggesting that she did little in the Senate or as Secretary of State. He pontificated briefly about the supposed ease of her first election to the U.S. Senate in New York (a race that occurred when he was probably in elementary school). He thinks Democrats only support her because she’s a woman, or something like that — a tautological assertion that makes no sense.

As I pointed out, the latest data gathered by NBC News/Marist Poll indicate just how strongly voters of all varieties in her party support her – and how well she performs against any potential GOP nominee in battleground and early primary states.

If we’d had a few more minutes, I might also have noted several of her achievements as a freshman senator, at a time when her new home state was suffering from the aftermath of 9/11. She capably represented the interests of the city and upstate, bringing home considerable aid and assisting the afflicted, especially first responders — ask any of her Democratic (or Republican) colleagues, as Weinstein assuredly didn’t bother to do.

She helped pass important legislation to help the kinds of people who don’t matter much to the Daily Caller: women, workers, low-income children, armed forces veterans and their families. And she did much of it by working across the aisle, even with the likes of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who played a key role in the failed impeachment of her husband.

Whenever right-wing concern trolls start yammering about Hillary’s problems, I detect what psychologists call “projection.” What actually worries them, whether they realize it or not, is the unappealing Republican presidential field — which shows weakly in that same NBC-Marist poll. But denigrating her seems to make them feel a little better. For now.

Photo: Canada2020 via Flickr