Most Americans say President Trump moved too slowly on coronavirus pandemic

Washington, DC, September 13, 2020

A new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds that in the wake of reports about the President knowingly downplaying the deadliness of the pandemic, majorities of Americans believe the President moved too slowly and do not trust what he says about the pandemic. However, these latest revelations appear to have done little to impact his overall standing with the public. Additionally, after separate reports that President Trump disparaged American casualties of war, a majority of Americans think Joe Biden has more respect for people who serve in the military than the President.

Detailed findings:

1. Two thirds of Americans (67%) say that President Trump acted too slowly when dealing with the pandemic. Less than a third (31%) say he acted at about the right pace, and only 1% say he moved too quickly.

• A majority of Republicans (69%) believe the President acted at about the right pace.

2. A majority of Americans (68%) do not trust what Trump says about the coronavirus pandemic. Americans are more split on trusting Joe Biden on the pandemic (51% trust a great deal/good amount vs 49% trust not so much/not at all). 

3. However, overall approval of Trump’s handling of the pandemic is unchanged, with just over a third (35%) approving, the same level seen in late August.

4. When asked who has more respect for those who serve in the U.S. military, a majority of Americans (61%) say Biden compared to 37% who say Trump.

About the Study

This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted September 11 to September 12, 2020 by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 533 general population adults age 18 or older.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The study was conducted in both English and Spanish. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, household income, and party identification. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2019 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). Party ID benchmarks are from recent ABC News/Washington Post telephone polls. The weighting categories were as follows:

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45–59, and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other or 2+ Races Non-Hispanic, Hispanic)
• Education (High School graduate or less, Some College, Bachelor and beyond)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• Party ID (Democrat, Republican, Independent, Something else)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.23. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

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